Western
Influence on Baila- the Repasz band connection.
A Speedy Music Medley on his Genos Workstation
Baila music, as a form of folk art, has been
popular for centuries in Sri Lanka. During the early 1960s, it entered into Sri
Lanka's mainstream culture, primarily through the work of police officer turned
singer Wally Bastiansz. He began adapting the 6/8 "kaffirhina"
rhythms to accommodate Sinhala lyrics. By the 1970s musicians, including MS
Fernando and Maxwell Mendis, had helped Baila grow into a well-known and
respected style of Sri Lankan popular music. It is primarily considered dance
music.
Haai Hooi Babi Archchi is a song about an eccentric old woman who lived in Moratuwa in the 1940s, one of top hits of Wally. When he was a Police Officer attached to the Police Band, during the 1930s and 40s, it was quite common to play tunes of Western Marches, and other tunes with 6/8 rythm. Therefore, quite naturally Wally re-arranged some of these tunes to suit his own lyrics to create great Baila songs and rhythms. It is said that he was influenced by the original Repasz Band, a non-military brass band, founded in Williamsport in Pennsylvania in 1831, and is still continuing in the United States, being the oldest non-military band. The Repasz Band March is their signature tune. Hi Hooi has an uncanny resemblance to the Respasz Band March. Desmond de Silva produced Komali Paney which is another Sri Lankan variation of The Repasz Band March).
In this post, I play Babi Aachi, Peththo and
Suranganeeta Malu Genawa in the Repasz style. It may not appeal to Baila lovers!
Click on the picture or use this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzX9wjURD80
Mahendra
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your Baila music which I enjoyed very much. Great talent ! Also I am grateful to you for enlightening us with the history of Baila music in Sri Lanka. Chira
Thanks very much Chira. Glad it was useful
ReplyDeleteHi Mahen
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the three Baila tunes you played.They reminded me of the Royal Thomian cricket matches at the oval,where we sang and danced whilst watching the cricket.
I love Baila except at Sri Lankan dances in England where it is played non stop till you get sick of it.
Thanks for the background information about Baila.I often watch the Baila Sadhaya on the U tube and very impressed with Dinesh Subasinghe,a very talented violinist and guitar player.My favourites are "Ayamma kotana giya"-Corrin,"Kollupitiya junction"-Desmond and Galkisse mudu werale.
Thanks, Bora. I am in full agreement with you about "baila-excess" at Sri Lanjan dances in England. I like the Baila, but like all good things, it must be used wisely. The other thing that annoys me about Sri Lankan dance events is the sheer determination of the Band to discourage any form of conversation by flooding the hall with loud sound. Quite often, I escape to the Bar area to chat with friends.
ReplyDeleteWally Bastiansz, a traffic warden from Colombo who was half Sinhala and half Dutch Burgher. There was a tradition where lower-class burghers would go to rich burghers households during holidays and dance kaffrinha music while dressed up as Africans, so Bastiansz probably had a lot of exposure to kaffrinha.Wally created baila by giving kaffrinha a more lyrical style. His songs became massively popular on the island.
ReplyDeleteAfter Wally Bastianz, the most recognizable name in baila is MS Fernando, who was big in baila in the ‘70s and ’80s. Influenced by rock and roll, Fernando and his contemporaries put lots of organs and surf-rock electric guitars in their baila.
Papare: At any cricket game in Sri Lanka you are sure to hear papare, the pump-up music played by fans on trumpets and snare drums. Often the melodies played on the trumpets come from baila music, and you can definitely hear that 6/8 baila beat in the drums
Mahen
ReplyDeleteThank you for the delightful story of the origin of our well loved baila’s of our childhood. I recall singing them at home, at school, medical school and professional gatherings in Sri Lanka. I still listen to them and enjoy in my retirement, after all Friday night is my music night. Military style of the Repasz Band rendition takes me back to an Anniversary event during our time in the faculty when those songs were played by the Army/Airforce Band in the memorable quadrangle of the faculty in the presence of our eminent teachers and honoured guests.
Baila is said to be Portuguese in origin and the word is derived from “bailar” meaning dance. Having been a regular summer visitor to Spain for over 3 decades the proper baila dancing that I have witnessed amongst the Burghers with the unique and distinctive body and dress movements reminds me of the Spanish Flamenco dancing. The Portuguese bailar music has the same distinctive beat of our very own baila that encourages listeners to take to the floor dance and gyrate.
I have always been a fan of baila. Wally Bastian was an iconic figure with Baila music and had his own airtime and his own programme on Radio Ceylon. I recall the famous “Nurse Nona” that was a hit. M.S.Fernando too was very well known as was Maxwell Mendis. I still listen to their baila on YouTube just like Bora does. One of my favourites is the ghost story of “mama bohoma baya wuna” made popular by Maxwell Mendis. Just as Bora has said Corinne de Almeida and Nalin Perera’s “Ayamma Kothana giya” is a veritable winner.
Closer to my heart is the brilliant baila that we had in the Mens Common Room at the faculty. My memory returns often to the rich music provided on the trumpet by Patrick Fernando that lit up the proceedings and the brilliance of JC Fernando strumming his guitar singing of the travails of “Saima Cut wela”. I danced unashamedly on the bridge table much to the chagrin of the bridge players. If it need be told the baila sounds so much better with a swig of the amber nectar that entices and invigorated the listeners to take to the floor and to the table!!
Thank you Nihal for your valuable observations. Talking of Big Matches, I recall the "papare" baila variant I referred to in one of my comments. The atmosphere of the Royal-Thomian (for me), always comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteBaila never stopped changing with technology over the years – today’s sound is filled with digital synthesizers and drum machines. The music has lost ground to newer genres like R&B and hip-hop, but continues to be played for weddings and parties around the country. The potential cheesiness factor in modern baila, mostly due to those digital synth patches, can be hard for the uninitiated to handle
Baila to this day is popular in the Seychelles islands , but then it too was once colonised by the Portuguese.
ReplyDeleteIA
Sanath, I presume you were posting this on behalf of Indra
DeleteBaila’s popularity reached incredible heights in the 1970s when the maestros like Wally Bastinaze, Henry Souza, Claude de Zoysa, Desmond Silva, Paul Fernando, Anton Rodrigo and Maxwell Mendis, swept the post independent nation off its feet with their energetic dance and music performance on stage.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship to Kaffirinha is worth mentioning again. Kaffirinha is a fast musical dance that stimulates men and women in performance. The music and rhythm are well adjusted to the dancers’ free movements, steps and gestures. Songs were electrifying to the dancers with plenty of twists of rhythm to keep them on patterned steps to the last, going into frenzy in the end. Kaffirinha became immensely popular among all communities due to its seductive blend of music, lyrics and dance, which was mostly performed by men and women on intoxication having a good time, in the open air, mostly on the beach, late at night lit by the moon, a large bonfire or oil lamps.
In 1940s, Kaffrinha transformed into dance and song form of entertainment called ‘Baila’ with the integration of Sinhalese lyrics, eastern and western rhythms and western musical instruments. The word ‘Baila’ was derived from the Spanish verb ‘bailar’, meaning to dance and it resembled the ‘fandango’ which emanated in Spain.
Hi Mahen
ReplyDeleteI am no expert on Kaffrinha but I read that somewhere in Sri Lanka there was a colony of Africans.They made a significant contribution to the evolution of Kaffrinha,
Mahen, thank you for this unusual interpretation of Baila music and the short music history lesson. As you know M.S. Fernando hailed from Moratuwa, my birth place! There are some expert Baila dancers and musicians among my large Moratuwa clan. (Patrick Fernando was one of them!) Baila dancing is very popular at gatherings in Moratuwa, but, as some of you have commented it can sometimes be overdone.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to study the origins of certain types of music, and these days there is such an overlap and mixing of genres which sometimes generates surprising and delightful fusions.
FYI, I am not fan of "Papare" bands!! It is just noise, not music in my opinion. 🤪
Bora, you are right. Here are some excerpts. The colonial period intensified African links and the best example is our small but notable Afro-Sri Lankan community. This community, now less than a 1000 people is mainly found in Puttalam. With historical references to African arrivals in the Portuguese, Dutch and British period, the linkages of the present Puttalam community are believed to be from the British period when slaves were bought from the Portuguese colony of Goa. They were then freed and drafted into the Caffre Corps Regiments of the Ceylon National Infantry.
ReplyDeleteWhilst small in number, like the Afro-Americans who have contributed through generations to spirituals, gospel music and jazz; the Afro-Sri Lankans have played a formative role in modern Sri Lankan baila
Srianee. Patrick was one of my closest friends, sadly no more. He and his trumpet were prominent at gatherings of Royalists, and later, medical students. Your observation of when music becomes declassified as "noise" is interesting! The papare music I suppose was a whole package, not just the "noise" but all that went with it to stimulate your basic instincts!
ReplyDeleteThank you Speedy for your music. Baila has always been popular in Sri Lanka and it's one dance that draws everyone to the floor. The toe tapping beat is irrisistable . One thing I love about it is that you can improvise the steps to match the lyric . I have chased Mahendra brandishing a bottle or a shoe in my hand, used my sari pota to mimic a bullfight or play coquette..... pretend to have a fist fight , done Kandi an dance steps....Oh and so much more. I even choreographed an item called Rhythmic Racial Harmony including Baila, Bharathanatiam and Kandian dance steps for an SLMA Doctors Concert . Mahendra and I won the Baila competition sat 5 dances we attended that year a few years back ! Sadly my dancing days are over now with my THR but I still love Baila music
ReplyDeleteLovely to read your comment Suri. I knew you were a good dancer but didn'y know of your award winning exploits with Mahendra! Well done. I hope you don't make it a habit to chase him with your slipper or a borttle!
DeleteI was intrigued by your reference to Goanese in Sri Lanka beacuse it reminded me of my Mentor Lylie Goridge . We were trained by him as the Moratuwa Choral Society . He taught us to appreciate music in it's variety Hymnsand Carols
ReplyDeleteCantatas. Spirituals. Classics,Secularsongs Sinhala folk songs. (Odi Helai, Suwanda Rosa Mal nela . Dhanno Budunge and even the National Anthem set to four part harmony.
He was such a wonderful man teaching English through singing travelling to outstation schools by bus to teach them.free of charge I am sure you can remember the L G singers. I remember him telling us that he was part Goanese He had the typical African kinky hair and broad lips.
I am surprised that none of you have mentioned the Gypsies led by Sunil who are forever delighting us composing new Bailas . The lyrics are always meaningful and often refers to real life situations .Piti Kotapang None is one of my favorites.
Talking of Baila dancing every time we come home with a trophy my daughter Manique exclaims how embarrassing ! She thinks we don't behave sedately enough for our age.!
I do agree with Bunter and Bora and you about music being too loud at social gatherings . Conversation is also one of the pleasures we enjoy and it is prohibitive with ear splitting music!!. That's one reason that Mahendra and I insisted that we have orchestral music at our daughter' s and son's weddings and had a disco during the time thay wanted to dance.
Play on Speedy you are a blessing
Thanks Suri for your valuable contributions to this discussion. Of course we should have mentioned the Gyspsies. Gypsies and Baila go together now. It is also important to point out that Baila is a unique Sri Lankan Genre. It has origins related to Portuguese kaffirs but the evolution into Baila is unique to Sri Lanka. It is not an import from Portugal but a new genre of music composed in Sri Lanka. If you like to know more, google Shihan de Silva, whom I know very well and is an expert of the Ceylon-Portugal connection.
ReplyDeleteShihan's views are well summarised in the paper -International Journal of Ethnic and Social Studies (IJESS) VOLUME II, NUMBER 1 JUNE 2013 CONTENTS 1 Post-Colonial Innovations in Sri Lankan Popular Music: Dynamics of Kaffrinhas and Bailas. Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya.
ReplyDeleteA brief summary is as follows:-Sri Lanka’s encounter with the Portuguese, which lasted for about 150 years (1505-1658), has left strong impressions on its socio-culture. The most vibrant Portuguese impact has been on popular music. This paper explores the dynamics of the popular genres known as Kaffrinha and Baila, previously explored by Ariyaratne’s survey (1999). The paper also contextualises chorus Baila songs (simply known as Baila today). Western influences on Baila and Kaffrinha are identified by Abeywickrama (2006), with Sheeran (2002) suggesting that Baila is an Afro-Iberian form of popular music. Although a forgotten imperial past is remembered through the musical flows to popular culture, this paper argues that Baila music provides a new post-colonial identity. Archival sources, manuscripts, print culture and fieldwork into oral traditions of Sri Lankan popular music are incorporated in identifying Baila as a new genre of music, a post-colonial innovation.
Thanks Speedy . Yes I will when I can find the time... between supervising on line classes for 6 grand children and giving them a hand in the mountains of assignments and homework with crazy deadlines !
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting fact about Baila in Sri Lanka is " Hituwana Baila" ie having a debate on a given topic using instant Baila compositions ..
Very entertaining. One of my Theater Orderlies at Sri Jayawardana pura Hosp was an expert at this and we would often see him live on TV shows . He even wrote a very well accepted book titled " Sri Lankawe Baila Kalawa"
Thanks, Suri. This is very much like the virudu exchanges that happen in Sri Lanka,. Our Literary Society had one of these with two ladies from Sri lanka and it was wonderful to watch and listen because the repartee had to be made by the responder to the virudu verse uttered by the main person. It went to and fro with clever exchanges, usually witty and humorous.
DeleteSuri and Mahen, I enjoyed your exchange about Sri Lankan Baila.
ReplyDeleteLike you Suri, I have occasionally enjoyed "Hituwana Baila," but didn't know the term for it! I think there were some people in Moratuwa who were very skilled at singing that way. It requires a great deal of talent to improvise like that. I learn so much from this blog!! Thanks
Does anyone know if Baila exists in this way in parts of Portugal? I suspect it is uniquely Sri Lankan. I have only visited Lisbon briefly, so I don't really know. I will do some research on this...