Ramona in a niche of her own

by Mahes Perera

Word spread swiftly that singer Ramona Carr will be featured at the JU session on August 7 and those who used to enjoy her singing style turned up to hear her after a lapse of something like 15 years or more. She was then performing at Trans Asia (now Cinnamon Lakeside) with Diliup Gabadamudalige at the keyboards. And later we heard that the duo was performing at Antalya, Turkey. Her performance that day on August 7 with Dylan Lye and his band proved that she has kangarooed to acquire a style that was forceful, stunning and unbelievable.

"Dylan Lye's band was excellent. Hassan Musafer, Adomis de Jesus they were awesome, I couldn't have asked for a better trio. They were professionals, I have never met them before, we had no rehearsals and bang we blew the audience! I heard so many appreciative comments that day and I'm thankful to Dylan Lye."

Duo

You sound so very different now. As a duo in Sri Lanka both of you were on a different scene. Can you elaborate? Did you acquire formal vocal training while in Antalya?

"With Diliup and with a lot of other musicians the backing was on tracks. Although Diliup played live, all the bass and rhythm were on tracks. That was a bit difficult but when I went to Antalya I got out of that and started working and singing with musicians live, constantly, and I found myself improving. I got training a long time ago when I was really young but living in Antalya for more than 20 years, singing with experienced musicians and live bands, six nights a week gave me the best training and experience I needed."

Stall our curiosity; let us know how your career started and how you teamed up with Diliup Gabadamudalige, a recognised keyboardist at that time?

"I started my career when I was in High School in New York. I sang with my first band. I was then about 16 years old. It was strange how I started to sing with Diliup. I came to Sri Lanka in 1987 and I was on holiday in Nuwara Eliya. The General Manager of the Grand Oriental Hotel came to me one evening and said, "Ramona, there's a guy playing keyboards and you have to hear him, and he was Diliup Gabadamudalige". So the GM introduced me to him and we started working at Trans Asia. We had a six month contract which was extended to a year. The F&B Manager was a Swiss who subsequently left Sri Lanka and went to Antalya, Turkey. I left for Los Angeles at the end of my contract. While in LA the former F&B Manager telephoned me and said "Ramona, I'm in a beautiful place Antalya, and I need a singer for my lounge at the Hotel. So he took me from LA and Diliup from Sri Lanka and put us together in Turkey."

Antalya is a well patronised tourist attraction and both you and Diliup must have had interesting moments entertaining the cosmopolitan guests.

Intention

"Yes certainly. We were well received and they were appreciative of our music. Diliup was there for the first season. Diliup and I in 1990 we did the tourist season which was between April and October. Diliup left for Sri Lanka, I had every intention of going back to LA, which I did. But during the season I met my future husband from Germany and I returned to Turkey, we got married and I stayed on.

Is it only lobby work you are involved in Antalya?

"No. I do a lot of high end private functions - cocktail parties, functions for ambassadors and weddings. A frequent occurrence is when Russian families have their 21st or 31st birthday parties. I was to sing at the G 20 Summit in November, which President Obama attended. The Summit was on November 14 and the shootings in Paris were on November 13 and as a mark of respect all music during the Summit in Antalya was cancelled unfortunately.

Have all your daily performances been with a Trio or with bands?

"Basically it is with a Trio. But it all depends on the occasion. The bands go up to 7 or 8 pieces. My pianist is Thomas Lewinsky, he is Polish-born and Swedish-raised and like me living in Antalya for 25 years. He's absolutely fantastic. He plays everything - jazz, pop, blues, funk, rock but his preference is jazz. We have a contrabass player, a drummer, jazz guitarist and if needed we can add saxophone, trombone and trumpet. They are Turkish and most of them play for the Antalya Symphony Orchestra."

Ramona Carr has carved a niche for herself as a singer. Her diction and phrasing, captures imaginatively the emotion of the lyrics of a song. She handles a song be it a ballad or an up-tempo with expertise, straight from the top, expressing the required embellishments the song deserves.

Holiday

Your visit to Sri Lanka, was it just holiday or for a particular purpose?

"I came to Sri Lanka for my Aunts' 95th birthday; it was a special occasion for all of us. The family had organised a celebration for her at the Kingsbury Hotel on Tuesday August 9. We came from all over the world - LA, Australia, New York, Toronto and myself from Turkey. My Aunt Gwendoline Bolling - Amerasinghe as a special request from her I was billed to sing Ave Maria. The band was the Barefoot Band with Jerome Speldewinde and I was very happy to hear them and sing with them. They backed me with the right emotion the song required.

I would love to come back - you never know. My dream would be to perform at an intimate concert - not for many people. Just a few hundreds. Have the best musicians in town. That would be a blessing I'm keeping fingers crossed for."