Sri Lankan Jazz by Rukshan Perera

I decided to feature two original jazz songs in English by Sri Lankan singer Rukshan Perera in a blog post. Rukshan has been a member of the popular Sri Lankan bands “The Golden Chimes” and “The Super Golden Chimes” in the 1970s. Rukshan’s main instrument is the guitar, but he’s a multi-instrumentalist who is also an exceptional keyboardist. I will be embedding the songs “What Time Is It?” and “Cool Cats” from Rukshan Perera’s YouTube channel.

What Time Is It?

Rukshan describes this as a jazz funk song. This song features piano playing by Rukshan with accompaniment by the jazz fusion band Thriloka. The song opens with Rukshan playing only with his right hand. He then is joined with his left hand playing a chord featuring light accompaniment from the bass and drums. After the intro, the piano changes to a more energetic part and the whole band comes in. There is an interesting subtle electric guitar strumming part. Rukshan brings back the notes with both hands from the intro briefly twice where it’s just his piano. In parts of the song, Rukshan speaks with the instruments stopping.

There is a long upbeat piano solo. Following the piano solo, Rukshan does jazz scatting after the piano solo where he plays the piano and sings musical sounds to match the piano notes. He plays another solo and starts singing again. Rukshan does ad-lib singing relating to the time at the end. Rukshan sings soulfully. This song reminds me of the Chicago jazz rock song “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”. That song is also performed by a singing pianist (Robert Lamm) and I had featured it in my article about non-relationship rock songs.

Cool Cats

This video features the lyrics displayed. There is a prominent bass part by Ray Gomes in this song. This song is a tribute to singers George Benson and Ella Fitzgerald with Rukshan singing in praise of them. There is the lyric “I bow my head to my masters when I do my scat”. Rukshan performs with a guitar in the first half including a section where he does the scatting and guitar playing that George Benson does (Rukshan performed the piano version of scatting in the previous song) and just sings in the second half.

After Rukshan’s scat, we have Ricky Senn’s saxophone solo followed by Herschel Rodrigo’s piano solo. Rukshan sings another scat towards the end of the song. In this case, there are no guitar notes accompanying his singing. His scatting in the second scat is more intense and adventurous. I hear what seems to be African influences in this scat. I like how in this song Rukshan sings in the Sri Lankan/British pronunciations instead of the American pronunciations. It is even cooler as he’s a US citizen. Rukshan lived in the US from the 1980s to the 2000s. I both have an interest in the US and like the international approaches of doing things. I’m not a US citizen, but I’m also a Sri Lankan dual citizen like Rukshan.

These are two melodic jazz songs by Rukshan Perera. Rukshan showcases his creative singing, songwriting and instrumentation skills in these songs. There is a contrast in the songs as “What Time Is It?” is fast with “Cool Cats” being a slower ballad. Rukshan gave us two great universally accessible jazz songs.

Ten Great Electric Piano Rock Songs

I decided to write an article about electric piano rock songs. This article is my 75th blog post. I feature a mix of major hits, minor hits, album tracks and an outtake from classic rock artists. This article is similar to my previous articles “Ten Great Piano Rock Songs by Ten Different Singers” and “Ten Great Electric Piano Elton John Songs”. We’re going back five decades.

Ride Captain Ride - Blues Image (1970)

It opens with an interesting electric piano effect. A synth effect briefly appears before going away when the singing starts. The singing is accompanied by electric piano, bass and drums. A few other instruments briefly come in during the first verse. The song gets more rocking during the chorus featuring additional instruments. After the first chorus, there’s a light guitar solo with prominent electric piano accompaniment. The song concludes with a rocking guitar solo.

Empty Pages - Traffic (1970)

It opens with the combination of organ and electric piano. Steve Winwood sings the song and plays electric piano & organ. There is another organ part played by Chris Wood. The organ is loud in parts of the song giving a dramatic effect. Close to the two minute mark, there is a long electric piano solo. The opening notes of the solo remind me of a similar part Elton John played in his song “Dreamboat”. A little after the three minute mark, Steve Winwood lightly sings along to the melody for about 20 seconds before resuming the chorus. This is the only song on the list not to feature any guitar. That doesn’t prevent the song from rocking as it rocks well with its keyboard parts.

Midnight Creeper - Elton John (1973) 

The song has a horn intro and then the intense guitars played by Elton’s guitarist Davey Johnstone are in the forefront. The horns come back in the chorus. The chorus is catchy. At the two minute mark, there is a prominent horn part, followed by Davey’s guitar solo. During the guitar solo, there is back and forth between the guitar and the horns. There is another guitar solo at the end of the song. This solo features prominent interjections by the horns. While Elton’s electric piano isn’t the loudest instrument, he gives good accompaniment with his rock playing.

Black Night - Bob Seger (1975)

This is an intense rocker with some musical similarities to the previous song. It’s an example of the Bob Seger rock sound. It opens with the guitars which are driving the song. We soon hear some accompaniment from the electric piano. Just after a minute there are a few prominent notes by the electric piano. A bit before the halfway mark, there’s an electric piano solo. After the last verse, the song seems to stop and then comes back for a guitar solo. Bob features the same effect in “The Fire Down Below” which was released the following year.

New Kid In Town - Eagles (1976)

The song opens with the electric piano which is instantly joined by acoustic guitars. The acoustic guitars are the loudest instrument, but the electric piano provides good accompaniment. Soon, the electric guitars and organ appear. Glenn Frey sings in a gentle warm way. Don Henley’s backing vocals provide good support. A rockier electric guitar comes at the three minute and 21 second mark. This song has a slight Mexican influence which can be heard in some of its guitar parts. 

All For Leyna - Billy Joel (1980)

Following the opening electric piano notes, we are soon joined by strong guitars. Billy plays a good electric piano effect which comes throughout the song. This song rocks so well and Billy gives us great rock electric piano playing. Just after the three minute mark, a prominent synth part also played by Billy appears. It goes away and comes back at the end of the song.

You Make My Dreams (Come True) - Daryl Hall & John Oates (1980)

The song opens with Daryl’s electric piano. He soon starts singing. Daryl expresses his excitement in his soulful singing. There is an instrumental break just after the halfway mark featuring a more prominent guitar part. This is a fun light pop rock song that mixes electric piano and guitar well.

All Right - Christopher Cross (1983)

It opens with a mix of guitar and synth and soon the electric piano appears. The electric piano is most prominent during the verses. Michael McDonald’s backing vocals are heard during the choruses. There is a powerful guitar solo by Steve Lukather making the song rock more. The electric piano accompanies the solo well. This song has a good mix of electric piano, synth and guitar.

Goin’ Home - Toto (1989)

This is an unreleased song from 1989 until it was released in 1998. The song opens with electric piano notes played by David Paich which is soon joined by all the instruments. There are backing vocals sung which is followed by original Toto lead singer Bobby Kimball’s vocals. They have two call and responses which also happens in the second verse. Similarly, during an instrumental section, there is a call and response between Steve Lukather on guitar and David Paich on electric piano. This song has a fun energetic feel.

When I See You Smile - Bad English (1989)

The song opens with Jonathan Cain’s electric piano. John Waite sings with minimal subtle instrumental accompaniment that includes acoustic guitar and keyboards. The song then has the addition of heavy guitars, drums and synth just before the chorus which continues going into the chorus. The second verse starts off similar to the first verse, but with added drums. The song then goes through the same musical changes which happened in the first verse. At about the three quarter mark, we have a strong guitar solo by Neil Schlon. The song closes with the same electric piano notes that opened it.

I tried to feature a balance of different types of rock in this article. They include pop rock, soft rock, hard rock and progressive rock. Also, there is a form of popular rock music known as yacht rock which is on this list. The term was coined in the 2000s, but it refers to music in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The songs on this list I’d classify as yacht rock are the ones by the Eagles, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Christopher Cross and Toto. Electric piano may not be a common rock instrument, but it has a long and diverse history in the genre.