Rukshan Perera in Live Concert:

Reaches out to children

by Stuart de Silva

Music is a talent that some, very few, are born with. However, unless that talent is nurtured throughout the growing years, that in-born talent will finally dissipate into banality and a kind of copy cat of idols and heroes, which has proliferated the music scene of today, creating a cacophony of amplified sound to drown their own ineptitude at being creative.

Rukshan Perera in his Live Concert in Colombo, set a very high goal for those who are creative in their musicianship. His very lyrics and the variety of the topics he treats in his song writing and his arranging of his music bears the mark of originality, a dedication to his craft and a superior command of the instruments he plays.

The very opening of his concert with Kaviya begins with the Kaviya, then takes a quantum leap to showcase his talent, not only as a Jazz guitarist who can hold his own with the best of that genre in the world, but also brings to light his talent as an arranger, in featuring the Colombo Brass Ensemble as a foil to his playing. The final cadenza where the unison parts with guitar and piano was handled with such dexterity.

Nostalgic memory

It brought a nostalgic memory of my childhood in Nugegoda, where the Kavi-karaya used to turn up near the Station, to beat on his rabana and sing the day's news for those who could not afford to buy the newspaper. It also brought to mind when my father used to drive me to some of the villages in the South, where at sunset, the women of the village used to sit around a huge rabana, beating complex rhythms with their palms and sing of what they had done during the day. It saddens me that these traditions have given way to a non-national, global-culture, so caught up in the Internet, pop-based, mind-set that tends to remove us from our roots, the Human, Creative Roots.

Apart from his fantastic guitar playing, Rukshan has taken certain events in his life as a human being and turned his songs into lyrics with a profound understanding of the human condition. The lyrics of his songs are the cornerstone of a poet which goes beyond the musical component of his composition. The words are a vital part of what this superbly competent musician is trying to convey to the public that attend his concerts.

That he uses the gamut of musical styles, from pop, through Jazz, a capella and fusion, not forgetting the traditional, to get his message across only serves to confirm the vast range of his involvement in life and all the sensibilities it embraces.

As a Sri Lankan born jazz musician (now retired) who travelled the world, with a keen ear for musicianship, I have seldom been impressed with 'cover' music that has existed in Sri Lankan bands, playing pooja to the unappreciative masses who flock the Nite Clubs in Colombo and the suburbs, that appears to them as "that's what I came to hear', becomes a sad, and distressing commentary on the state of music in our homeland. Rukshan Perera is, perhaps, the real musician that Sri Lanka has produced in decades. He is not only a poet/lyricist, he has a very specific ability to write songs that reflect the social issues of the day that could influence the mindset of the people of the land in viewing their own participatory contributions to healing the wounds of a disastrous war.

His absolute command of his instruments, be it guitar, piano, blues harp or flute, his arrangements, his sharing the stage with other talents such as Natasha Ratnayake, Voice Print, Mariazelle Goonetileke, Lelum Ratnayake, the de Lanerolle brother Ishan, the pianist Eshantha Peiris and a great drummer Harshan Gallage and Chris Wickremanayake are a tribute to his humility.

I'd like to focus on a couple of quotes from the lyrics of his songs:

From " Feel like a Butterfly": "Now I've got wings to fly, and strength to try/ New choices I never had in life/ the days of trials and cries have slowly died/ Now I feel like a butterfly".

Taosim

This reminds me of the founder of Taosim, Lao Tsé,(600 BC) when he said "I sometimes wonder if I am a butterfly dreaming I was once a caterpillar, or am I a caterpillar who will, one day, become a Butterfly"? Rukshan certainly has made the metemorphosis from caterpillar to Butterfly. From "One Land For All": "This beautiful paradise is waiting on you/ To join the journey of Love and make it through/North needs the South, South yearns for the North/ From Coast to Coast, let's rebuild the Land/ Sri Lanka Land."

As a musician and a human being in (still) searching for the deepest meaning of life, let me quote Charlie "Bird" Parker, the legendary Jazz alto-saxophonist. He was standing outside Birdland in New York, the Club that was named after him, when someone came up to him and asked him "Hey, Man, how do I get to Carnegie Hall?" Bird looked the cat with a twinkle in his eye and said, "Listen ! And practise, man, practise!" 'Coming Home to you' - his return to Sri Lanka, where he sings and plays the Blues Harp (Chromatic Harmonica to the uninitiated in this particular style of music)

'Feel like a Butterfly' - his moving tribute to Nobel Laureate of Bangladesh, Dr Muhammad Yunus, who finances a project to bring poverty-stricken villagers towards bringing their latent creative talents to the fore and out of poverty. His program, which began in Bangladesh, has now expanded into Africa, Asia and South America.

'Amazing Grace / Lord's Prayer' - a touching capella rendition featuring the amazing voice of Natasha Ratnayake and the equally amazing group voices of Rukshan, Mariazelle Goonetilke and Melantha Perera.

Young voices

'Nature's Calling' - opens with 3 young voices exhorting the world to acknowledge that Mother Nature is fighting back at mankind's rape and devastation of our Earth planet, sung by Rukshan and Natasha and the chorus group, "The Little Sopranos".

Scat Singing in Harmony to his guitar solo, this takes Rukshan in a quantum leap ahead of George Benson, to whom he is compared-alas! The average public have a tendency to compare and contrast musicians whom they idolise, because their only knowledge of music must come from records or videos. In my opinion Rukshan's guitar playing is in a class with the greatest in the Jazz world to which I would include Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian and Larry Coryell, Stanley Jordan and a very few others.

'What Time Is It?' Here, another aspect of his multi-instrument talent. On piano this time. Rukshan's dexterity and fluent playing impressed me -a Jazz piano player who travelled the world for 45 years.

'I'll Keep Fighting', his song for the fight against Cancer and the hope that a cure would be found soon.

Whistling in Harmony, this is a further demonstration of the multi-faceted musician that Rukshan is. The average man is tone deaf and is an embarrassment when he tries to whistle his favourite song. But, to whistle a melody line and then add the third-of-the scale at the same time in harmony? That's great stuff!!!

'Something is Happening' to me, there is a sense of poecy to the confusion in the lyrics. The vocal group Voiceprint, who won the First Prize at the International Competition for Vocal Groups from all over the world in China, provide the harmony on this track. 'Nursery Rhapsody', also accompanied by Voiceprint, is Rukshan's rendition of Sri Lankan Nursery Rhymes, which he says is "arranged in the style of Queen"s Bohemian Rhapsody". Superbly done.

Reconciliation

'Let's Make History', joined by Ishan De Lanerolle, is a powerful statement for reconciliation, opening with the tragedy of the burning of the Jaffna Public Library.* This Library was built by Dr James Rutnam PhD, a close friend of my father, who transferred his voluminous collection of, plus my father's entire collection from his own vast library,(which included the original Illuminated and hand-illustrated Complete Works of Milton in four volumes, and the Complete Works of the engraver Durer) to this monument to education and reference to Ceylon's (then) historical heritage. 'A Capella Medley', a medley of the 60s and 70s "calypso" songs. Rukshan sings with a group of 5 singers.

'Sri Lankan Blues', his opening chorus on guitar reminds me of T-Bone Walker. Chris Wickremanayake on piano shows he knows what Blues piano playing is all about.

Doi, Doi, Doi, a masterpiece in fusion and Jazz, with Rukshan introducing on flute this time. It's a showcase for his guitar playing with a solid solo from Eshantha Peiris on keyboards and a superlative drum solo from Harshan Gallage and duet with maestro Lelum Ratnayake on percussion. And a word must be said for the Colombo Brass Ensemble, who acquit themselves with complete confidence.

'One Land For All', A song for Peace and Reconciliation and Harmony for all Sri Lankans who suffered the travails of a 28 year war on terrorism.

Rukshan Perera's Concert was a Charity Fundraiser for the United Mission Trust of Sri Lanka. Their mission is "to reach out to children particularly of the North, Wanni, and East of Sri Lanka to provide leadership training, personal capacity enhancement and foster growth of self-confidence to facilitate National Unity, Reconciliation and Integration between children of all areas of Sri Lanka, on the basis that children are our Nation's most precious resource and foster the belief and acceptance that all children are equal sons and daughters of a united and beautiful Mother Lanka".

The writer was a leading pianist in Sri Lanka before he domiciled in Sydney, Australia.