Specialist Dr.J

'Kuban Boys' at 'Cyclone' Meet Steelers at the Hut  Long await over for 'Pauru Walalu' and'Paadadaya' Specialist Dr.J

'Kuban Boys' at 'Cyclone' 

By Sanath Weerasuriya 

'The Kuban Boys' perform six nights a week except Tuesdays at 'Cyclone'. 

This very versatile Cuban band was formed by 6 members, in 1993, all of whom graduated from the Cuban Superior Institute of Arts in classical music. Three of them played with the Cuban Symphony Orchestra, while the others taught at the National Institute of Music before joining the band. Last year, the group was enlarged to 7, and includes a female singer. 

Quick to establish a rapport with their audiences, the 'Kuban Boys' structure their performances nightly to suit the mood of the crowd and move effortlessly between the styles of salsa, meringue, reggae, jazz ballads and classical pieces. 

They have a wide repertoire from Salsa to Reggae, Spanish Brazilian music, Jazz to Gypsy music and also English, Cumbia, Cha, Cha to Caribbean music. 'The Kuban Boys' have toured many parts of the world specially to Spain, South America and Europe. Asia too has been a popular destination for them. 

They were in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Manila and Philippines from February 1995 to October 1996, during their Asian tour. 

They are very popular in the Caribbean and Bahamas. 

The members of the band are: Rolando Ocho (saxophone/percussion/vocals(bandleader),Emilio Ricart (keyboard/vocals), Julio Peraza (drums), Mariano Pollet ( bass/double bass/vocals), Juan Carlos Gonzalez (lead vocals/congas/percussion), Verenis Duany (lead vocals/keyboard), Lazaro Acebal (congas/percussion) and Tania Pinaro as their female vocalist. The band has been invited to perform at prestigious events such as the Montreal Jazz Festival, and record with singers such as Diana Ross and Whitney Houston. 

"The Kuban Boys" will be in Sri Lanka till mid January and they are billed to perform at 'Cyclone' on December 31 as well as at the several seasonal concerts in the city. 

Meet Steelers at the Hut 

By Sanath Weerasuriya 

They started their stint at the 'Hut' last Friday. The band will be in action on Fridays and Saturdays at the 'Hut' initially and probably Thursday too by mid November. 

They will be in Sri Lanka till January next year and the band is scheduled to perform in Austria from February 1. Their last day at the 'Hut' will be January 9. 

The Steelers are based in Germany and they play in a night club circuit there. They perform on and off in Austrian circuits too. 

'We will be leaving Sri Lanka on January 15 as we have to start our new contract at the night club 'Classic' in Saalbach, Austria', said Eddie Joseph, the leader of the band. 

Eddie and the boys will be in action at the Pool Terrace of the Mount Lavinia Hotel on December 31 at the New Year Dance. 

Their debut single 'All My Love' is now on CD and Eddie said they are busy putting other four songs together to be released soon. 

'In Germany, if you are releasing a CD to the market, it should contain at least forty minutes of playing time.' All My Love is completed and now we have to finish other four songs, which we have not completed. 

All five songs are originals. The music and arrangements for ''All My Love' was done by Tony Peters, a German musician. Lyrics and Voices for the songs are by the Steelers. 

Long await over for 'Pauru Walalu' and 'Paadadaya' 

By Kumaradasa Wagista. 

The two films are Prasanna Vithanage's 'Pauru Walalu'(Walls Within) and Linton Semage's 'Paadadaya'(The Vagabond). 

Linton Semage made his debut as a lead actor in I.N.Hewawasam's "Meeharaka', where he won the 'best actor' award at the Sarasaviya Film festival. He is a stage actor and a producer too. 'Padadaya' , the new film, is Semage's first directorial venture. 

Actress - producer of 'Pauru Walalu', Nita Fernando is getting ready to release her maiden production in the fifth circuit .She is enjoying this privilege because she bagged the Best Actress award at the Singapore International film festival for her performance in 'Pauru Walalu'.Any local film winning laurels from a recognised International Film festival is given the opportunity of an early film release in the fifth circuit according to a ruling by the National Film Corporation(NFC)."To encourage local filmmakers to produce meaningful feature films NFC has decided to give an early release to films getting recognition at international film festivals ,"NFC sources said. 

Tony Ranasinghe,Nita Fernando and Sangeetha Weeraratne play the three key roles in 'Pauru Walalu' which is directed by Prasanna Vithanage on a script written by Tony. 

A special feature of this film is that the entire movie had been filmed within the Galle Fort and completed shooting within a specific time as Nita Fernando was employed in Montreal at that time."Nita's role had to be completed while she was in the country,Vithanage said. 

From the early eighties some of our film actresses started producing films while playing the main role.Some of these films were successful while many failed at box office levels.In fact a few films are yet to be released,as they are stuck for want of funds to print the release prints and advertising."I thought of producing as my husband encouraged me to produce a film as my contribution to the film industry" Nita Fernando said. 

On one of her visits to Sri Lanka for Christmas her husband Aelien Perera thought of putting his idea through and met Tony who undertook to write the script."On our second visit everything was ready for filming."she said. 

Nita Fernando is happy that she bagged the best actress award at an International Film Festival in the first film she produced."It was really unexpected.I never thought that I will be the best actress until my name was announced.I am grateful to Providence for my success" she said. 

Presently she is engaged in pre release work of the film.She has handed over the publicity campaign and is ready with the prints.However there will be no pre publicity trailer running in theatres because of the time factor.Nita will not give up acting and producing films in the future. 

At the moment 'Pauru Walalu' is participating at Festival International De Films in France. 

Specialist Dr.J 

"'Specialists' is basically a professional DJ service but with unlimited goals as an entertainment concept company," Suresh popularly known as Dr. J described his new venture. 

Suresh, though, he worked with TNL Radio as a DJ, is a professional mobile DJ. 

'I always wanted to get out of Radio DJing and now I'm. I can be more than a DJ with this new concept. It is more than a DJ company. I get involved more in entertainment now', he explained. 

He has joined up with his TNL buddy Tareeq of HOT-MIX 'fame'. 'Specialists' does the hottest gigs in Colombo. The new kid on the block with Specialists is the up and coming younger brother of DJ Jith (formally of Valentinos), Moni, presently with ABC Radio. 

'Specialists will be playing at a top night club to be opened soon', said Dr. J. 

Ash is also attached to 'Specialists' and she will be involved in more promotional work. 

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