Gazali Amit

The story of my life

I was born in Nawalapitiya, a town in Sri-Lanka on the 18th of October 1925. I was one of four siblings, two brothers and a sister. My memories of my interest in music started from my childhood when I was eight years old. My father was an amateur musician and I followed his footsteps. He played Eastern music on an instrument called the 'Sarafina' which was very much like a piano keyboard. As I was getting older I more or less abandoned Eastern music and switched to Western music. As vinyl records were hard to come by in the old days I spent time constantly listening to the radio and music from B.B.C London. My favourite guitarists was Django Rheinhart and Charlie Christian at the time. I bought myself a ukulele which was a strumming instrument played in Hawaiian music but I played solos on it instead. 

As I kept improving on the Ukulele I was looking for an instrument in which I could further improve my soloing skills and decided to switch onto the Spanish guitar. At the same time I was very interested in electronics and was repairing radios. When I was 16 years old a friend of mine who had a faulty radio gave it to me for repairs which I did and offered me payment. I told him that I had seen a guitar on the top of a cupboard in his dining room and would prefer that instead. He agreed but unfortunately it was in pieces. I took it and had it repaired by Pappa Menezes in his shop at Bambalapitiya. The guitar wasn't too bad after having it repaired and I was able to play solos on it and some of my friends were very impressed with my playing. This was very encouraging. One of these friends who had a proper guitar very kindly gave it to me to practice on. At the time another friend by the name of Neville De Silva who owned an electric guitar was happy to lend it to me to try out. I was truly taken up with this electric guitar and thought I could make my own electric guitar and amplifier.  All of the above guitars were imports. At the age of 22 years I made my own electric guitar and amplifier. It was the first electric guitar and amplifier made in Sri-Lanka(Ceylon). I then started playing with different bands functions, weddings and parties. 

One night while I was playing at a party I was approached by and Englishman by the name of Tito Burns and he asked me to join his band at a club called the 'Silver Fawn' in Colombo. I played with Tito for about two years and when the club closed down he offered to take me to England but I turned it down and started my own band and called it the 'Gazali Amit Quintet'. At this point in time I bought myself a Gibson guitar directly from the USA. My band played dance music for many years, my pianist was Miss Thelma Pereira a well known musician in Sri-Lanka at that time. When the band broke up I formed a Rock n Roll band as it was the craze in the late forties when Elvis Presley and Bill Hayley were very popular around the world. I was now playing for entrepreneur Mr Donovan Andre. In 1951 I met my wife Monica De Silva who was also performing for Mr Andre with her own group called the De Silva Sister's. They were three sister's. They were known as Ceylon's Andrew Sister's. I married her in 1952.

Whilst playing for one of the carnivals I was approached by the leader of the band at the Galle Face Hotel Mr Louis Moreno to join his band to play in a prestigious night club at the hotel called the Mascarilla. It was the only night club in the country and was drawing well known business people and large crowds. All the musicians in the band were foreigners. To name a few, Ossie Halpern, Reuben Solomons and Louis Pedroso. I also had Helen Lucas playing for me at one time. I was offered accommodation for me and my family in the hotel. I played at the hotel for nearly ten years. Playing with these amazing musicians was truly great experience for me. Whilst at the Mascarilla I had the privilege of playing with the members of the great Duke Ellington Band and also met the famous guitarist Charley Byrd when they visited the country.    

No Sooner I left the Galle Face Hotel I was offered a job in the Grand Oriental Hotel also known as the Hotel Taprobane in a new club called the Blue Leopard. Some of the musicians that played with me were Jimmy Manual(Piano), Valentine Manicavasgar(Acoustic bass), Geoffrey Labrooy(Drums), Rodney Vanheer(Saxophone) and my Sister-In-Law Christine Gamalatge(Vocalist) who was compared to the famous jazz singer Ella FitzGerald. I always specialised in jazz but was also interested in playing the classical guitar and was accepted as a member of the Classical Guitar Society of New York. Hampered by the lack of people to teach me I learnt the technique and theory of guitar playing all by myself.  I gave guitar lessons and taught a number of up and coming young musicians at that time. To name a few, Rodney Jansz, Indra Raj and some of the guitarists of the well known bands in Sri-Lanka such as the Cosmonauts, The Red Dragons and The Jetliners. 

In 1965 a well known music store named 'Harmonics' with whom I had many dealings in music and electronics asked me to form a big band and do a concert in order to promote their business. I formed a ten piece orchestra and performed at a concert at the Ladies College Hall in Colombo. Not long after I was approached by a jazz organisation call 'Jazz Unlimited' to organise a Jazz concert in Colombo. I formed a 16 piece orchestra with some of the most renowned musicians in Sri-Lanka which also included some members of the army band. The band was named ' Gazali Amit and his Modern Jazz Ensemble' and we performed at the Ladies College Hall. It was a great success.

I had two ambitions in life, one was to be a band leader and the other was to own my own radio & electronics business. Having fulfilled the former, I then opened my own radio and electronics repair business in Bambalapitiya and called it 'GA Electronics'. I continued my band work at night and my business during the day for many years until I migrated to Australia in 1975 with my wife and five children. I formed a family band in Sydney with my children for a short period and my children continued with the band for 18 years playing at many different venues in Sydney and Sri-Lankan functions. I also worked at RCA and Sanyo as an electronics engineer. I retired in 1993 and enjoyed my retirement until my wife sadly passed away in April 2012. I am now 89 and live by myself in an apartment  making the best of my life with my children and grandchildren and of course strumming on my guitar whenever I feel like.

Note: The above bio was written by Dad in 2014. He passed away on October 8th 2023 just 10 days from his 98th birthday.

 Dad was a very hard worker and we are very proud of him and his accomplishments. His dedication, creativity and knowledge contributed immensely to the Sri Lankan music industry. He will be sadly missed.