|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 29 August 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Magazine |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Only a few are blessed with an extraordinary talent in music... and quite confidently we can say that young Niduk Wijetilleke belongs in this category. At a very young age Niduk began studying the cello and piano, on a formal basis sitting for examinations and enjoying himself. But a streak of restlessness nudged him into studying Computer Sciences. In Canada he threw himself into acquiring professionalism in this field... yet the magneticism of music saw him on the piano stool... he was back home... How did music start it all for you? My mother is a music teacher and having been born into such a household I was exposed to music and musical training at a very early age. My mother recalls when at the time I hadn't yet started any training at age maybe four or five, I would answer ear test questions she asks her pupils before they do. For example clapping a rhythm. After starting me off she soon sent me to her teachers, Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Maize Wickremesinghe. However, I didn't show much promise as I neglected practicing.But music was still a part of me. I'd try to play the tunes I heard on the radio. In my childhood I grew up listening to pop music of the 80's. I remember I used to like Stevie Wonder's 'I Just Called To Say'. With my mother's persuasion and coaching, I somehow studied classical music up to grade five Trinity College of Music. By this time I was in Dubai and I was fourteen about when I started violincello too. Your interest in jazz? My interest in jazz was sparked off at the time I was about thirteen. I could recall when I hear a solo on the radio I could anticipate the next notes the soloist would play. These were of course simple pop tunes. My father had a friend who used to come to our house and play piano. I was moved by his playing and I resolved to learn how to play. I soon realized that a lot of the music that I liked was called jazz. Be it Blues, swing or Latin. I soon bought tapes and started listening to jazz. I tried to transcribe what I heard some times note for note. At the time this seemed to be the logical thing to do. Years later I found that most jazz musicians had gone through this process. Back in Sri Lanka who gave you the impetus to take to music professionally? When I moved back to Sri Lanka, in 1994 I started taking lessons from Harsha Makalanda. He showed me the basics which are the foundations on what I have built upon till today. He showed me the blues scale and taught me about form. For example the 12 bar blues.I got my first exposure to playing in public when he introduced me to Jazz Unlimited Jam sessions at the CCC. I learnt how to play with other musicians and I'm forever grateful to Harsha for giving me that start. During this time I was featured in the Classical Concert '95 and the Khrome Concert '96. Your stay in Canada how influential was it for you music wise? In 1997 I moved to Canada to study Computer Science. Whenever I found some space between classes, I would look for practice rooms and would spend a lot of time at the piano. Here I joined the St Thomas University Jazz Ensemble. This was a big band format and I played piano. I learnt to read charts. The band performed at The Edmonton and Fredericton Jazz festivals. During this time I also started intense classical training with a Russian pianist to improve my technique. What are you doing right now? While on a short vacation in Sri Lanka I did a show with Aruna Siriwardhena's band ASAP (A.S and Friends) at the opening of Gatsbys, a new Jazz club at the Galadari in Sri Lanka. I had a lot of fun doing this gig. I hope to be in Sri Lanka again in a few months.In Dubai I work as a freelance artist playing in several bands. Since I moved to Dubai in 2001, I have been exposed to many different cultures and different styles of music that has made me grow musically and as a person. I worked with an Arabic/Latin fusion band with whom I played on a CD that was released by EMI Arabia. I also played on a CD by Abstrakt Collision which is free Jazz, Frank Zappa influenced music.Dubai is becoming a popular jazz destination in the Middle East. Every year in January they have the Phillips Dubai Jazz festival.I played in the Phillips Dubai Jazz Festival in 2003 with the Blues Drivers. Stanley Jordan and Billy Cobham were featured in this festival. You are young and what is it that attracts you to jazz? It's the spirit of jazz that attracts me to it. Jazz is the attitude and spirit with which you play a certain music. I don't think of it as a genre. You respond to the moment and make something out of it. To me jazz is a foundation on which I can build upon for any genre of music be it pop, R & B, or hip hop.Playing jazz makes me look at rhythm and harmony in another angle which creates endless possibilities. I can take a simple song and make it sound completely different still maintaining it's essence. That's the spirit of jazz. Could you outline some of your influences? I used to listen to a lot to Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, John Coltrane.Now I have started listening to Stevie Wonder and Nat King Cole. I've started listening to R and B and blues again. I want to go to the roots of the music. What are your future plans? I am trying to refine all the skills I have acquired over the years. I want to explore other facets of music like singing and dancing. I am motivated to do this by a need to touch people's heart's through all the experiences I have had. I think an artist has the responsibility to uplift the spirit of the people and this is what I want to be doing. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
