Down memory lane

Yana rata wate – Enna ma priye – Lassana Sri Lankave

We have been listening to this ‘voyage of discovery’ on the heritage of Sri Lanka sung by the ever-popular Desmond de Silva for several decades. We never get tired of it. Wherever Desmond appears in any part of the wold – as he often does – the Sri Lankans demand it and he obliges. 

Recently as I watched Desmond singing to the music by Mahesh Denipitiya, the highly-creative music director, there was a freshness in it. Really, not only in that song but all the numbers he sang which we are thoroughly familiar with.

Desmond, hailed as the foremost baila singer was performing over Derana TV at the Derana Sinhagiri Studio – the popular musical program where Mahesh, the innovator reigns supreme. His orchestra is a mix of some of the talented musicians mainly of the new generation, most of whom an oldie like me has not been exposed to. I could only pick Anthony Surendra who had been around for quite a while creating quite an impact whenever he performs. 

From ‘Yanna Rata Wate’ Desmond moved to ‘Le Kiri Karala…’paying tribute to mothers. Prior to the song Mahesh created an ideal setting getting the orchestra to play ‘Doi Doi Doi Doiya Baba’ with the flute dominating. 

Mahesh Denipitiya

Then came the ‘King of Baila’ Wally Bastian creation – ‘Yaman Bando Vesak Balanna’ where two guest singers – Sumathipala Perera and S.S. Padmakumara – added lot of colour bringing back memories of who we used to identify as ‘typical Baila singers’ in the old days. The song itself takes you back to viewing pandals and other illuminations during Vesak. 

Reminding us that he sang the theme song composed by Nimal Mendis for the English version of the Manik Sandarasagara film ‘Seetha Devi’ (1978), Desmond repeated ‘When did I meet you my love’ with the chorus joining in with a few lines of the Sinhala song – ‘Nim Him Sevva’ (originally sung by Pandit Amaradeva) – alongside the English. 

I was reminded of how Nimal Mendis paid tribute to Amaradeva at one of the latter’s concerts by walking up and singing the English song and listening to the maestro rendering the Sinhala version. To feel that both have departed is indeed sad.

Desmond followed up with ‘Kirillie Ran Kirillie’ (claiming it was the first romantic song he sang) paying tribute to musician Stanley Peiris who composed the music for Vernon Perera’s lyrics. It was also to prove the point that he was not merely a baila singer but was quite comfortable singing other songs. 

It was a pleasant surprise to see Sunil Perera joining Desmond (‘first time I am appearing with Desmond live’, he said) to sing ‘Sumihiri Paane’ written by Hugo Fernando of the Jayamanne era based on a Tamil melody. It had been first sung by Eddie Jayamnanne.

Desmond wound up with ‘Chooda manikke balaala yanawa me api’ – the first Sinhala number he had sung in his musical career.

It was certainly a night to remember with Desmond, counting over 50 years in the music scene, giving the fans another highly-entertaining show. 

Born and bred in Matara, Desmond started as the lead vocalist with Fire Flies Band in 1963 as a young man of nineteen. He then sang English songs. Prior to forming his own group – ‘Desmond and the Clan’ in 1976 he was with Spitfires and Jetliners – big names in the music world. Now domiciled in Australia he is much in demand and is kept quite busy.