Wally’s Bailas bring back good old musical memories
View(s):Some musical shows in Colombo make a difference because they are done differently or follow an unconventional path.
This was the case in the ‘Celebrating Wally Bastiansz’ show at the Bishop’s College, Colombo recently which drew an appreciative crowd of lovers of Baila music and song.
When the curtain was drawn as the show opened, it was history and going down memory lane, as a large video wall profiled the story of Wally, considered Sri Lanka’s unmatched ‘King of Baila’– of his humble beginnings to an era where he rattled off a string of hits like “Yaman Bando Vesak Ballana”, “Ratak Watinawa”, “Le Kiri Karala”, “Irene Josephine”, “Muhudey Yamu Masun Genenna”, “Weeriyen Soya” or “Nondi Simaiyya”.
Wally’s songs by singers ranging from the lovable Ronnie Leitch, whose version of “Wada Kaha Sudiya” plus his usual jokes livened up proceedings, the golden voice of Keethi Pasqual, evergreen Mariazelle Goonetilleke and many others were interspersed with clips of Wally’s life with interviews from personalities like Sunil Perera and veteran dramatist Wijeratne Banda Warakagoda who shared his days as Wally’s police buddy.
Present at the show were several members of Wally’s large family –13 children from two marriages – and extended family including the son of Wally’s sister Felicia Florence Jayasekera. Wally’s song ‘Nurse Nona’ was an ode to his sister who was a nurse.
Another revelation was that ‘Hai Hooi Babi Achchige” was a melody taken from the Repasz Band March, a US tune written in 1901. In a You Tube comment on one of Wally’s songs, a listener wrote; ‘these oldies are golden’ while another said “you don’t have this kind of music or lyrics anymore”.
Wally was the perfect Baila singer and no party, even now, is complete without a good old Baila session of songs from the King of Baila’s repertoire. That’s the same with Sri Lankan associations abroad where the partying invariably ends with a good, old and nostalgic session of Wally’s Bailas.
The 120-minute non-stop concert also featured a short ‘Wada baila’ (also known as chorus baila) session by two veterans while the emcee for the evening, actor and model Saranga Disasekara was par excellence. It was an evening of wonderful music and nostalgic memories celebrating a legend whose songs are evergreen and unmatched in time!
(Feizal)