Arts

Palinka in Concert:

An evening of Gypsy jazz

by Indeewara Thilakarathne

It was not yet another evening of ball room dancing at the Samudra Ball Room with an enticing view of the Indian Ocean. Rather cosmopolitan audience was on the edge of their seats, eagerly waiting to witness the gala performance by the visiting French troupe Palinka .

A Jazz band of international repute Palinka consists of Daniel Beja on guitar and vocals, Yohan Rochetta on violin and Yacine Laggoune on guitar.

The audience was enthralled by the sheer mastery of the band with tunes which came effortlessly. As one of the special features of their concert in Colombo, Palinka played with a Sri Lankan band 10 Second Rule.

The members of the troupe met in Paris (2003) around Jazz manouche (Gypsy Jazz) and the music from Eastern Europe. Palinka travelled across France in a van playing on streets, at bars and at Jazz festivals.

The first formal tour of Palinka organised by them, was launched in France and travelled up Rumania via Balkans. They played their own creations together with traditional jazz manouche. In 2006, band released its first album 'Un malin Plaisir' .

One of the salient characteristic of the band is the ease with which they play the tunes and their mastery of the instruments.

Traditional gypsy jazz is unique as the players play tunes to the sounds and though they play brilliantly, none of these gypsy players has had formal education or training in the craft. They are simply playing by ear with a marvellous tempo, said Daniel Benja.

Local band 10 Second Rule is an offspring of the popular band Brass Monkey Band and the band first album 'Monsoon Sunday 2' was a sequel to the Brass Monkey Band album 'Monsoon Sunday 1: Warning Signs'.

Hugely successful Colombo concert is attributed to excellent organisation on the part of the French Cultural Centre and of course Niroshan, the livewire behind the logistic handling.

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Art exhibition

The 14th one man art exhibition by Chandrapala is to be held at Lionel Wendt Art Gallery from October 12-14. The exhibition will be opened on Wednesday at 11 am.

The exhibition consists of his latest creations. An artist's style and presentation may often be subjects to a change but his identity will remain unchanged in his creations.

M. Chandrapala is from Veyangoda and entered the University of Kelaniya in 1963 and obtained B.A. Degree. He also studied at Government College of Fine Arts (Heywood).

Since his childhood he took an interest in art and literature. Chandrapala participated in several major exhibitions in Sri Lanka and won awards for painting. His paintings have been selected for the international exhibitions.

Also lot of his paintings have been selected by art lovers in many countries such as Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, Finland, Italy, Russia, Hungary, Korea, Pakistan, Japan to display and decorate their personal art galleries and residences. Since 2006 (February) he is opened and maintained his private Art Gallery at Veyangoda. Artist M. Chandrapala also enters into Inter Net in his art life by opening a new web site.

His web site address is 'www.artistchandrapala.com.'Chandrapala is not only a painter but also a poet who shows these characteristics in his literary career. He published his poetic collection Kulundul Belmak (1974) Mawathe Geethayak (1977), Socretees Ha Pawahan (1998). Dharmapala Olcott Memorial International Research Foundation awarded honours title Lekaka Shiromani for Chandrapala's literary career.

There are many paintings in this exhibition depicting love, affection, pleasures, hope and various personal bonds in human life.

JAZZAMATAZZ at Lionel Wendt

DANCEWORLD School of Modern and Jazz Ballet is proud to present their inaugural show JAZZAMATAZZ on October 13 and 14 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre.

This highly energetic production which will commence at 7.00 p.m. will feature dances utilising the flavours of Spanish, Arabian, African, Modern and Jazz styles.

JAZZAMATAZZ will have 60 youngsters, between the ages of 5 and 15 performing and the show is produced and directed by Sureka Buell, Artistic Director of the school.

Having danced for a period spanning over 25 years at the Oosha Garten of Ballet in classical ballet and later years in both contemporary and modern dance, she has taken many lead roles in her productions.

Seeing the interest and the potential of the present day youngsters to learn modern dancing, Sureka founded DANCEWORLD School of Modern and Jazz Ballet in September 2005.