A Quiet Evening of Restful Music with Admiral O.S. Dawson, Bangalore
Occasionally on a weekend one can hear some delightful music played
on a piano or an organ when you pass 'Bostan', at 32 Vivani Road, Richards
Town, Bangalore. This is the residence of Admiral O.S. Dawson, Retired from
the Indian Navy, and a lover of music and great supporter of the Indian
Naval Band, and a good self-taught musician.
The earlier occasion I had been to listen to music, I was encouraged to
play along as we had a guitarist singer Oscar Menezes, many singers from abroad
visiting as students, a keyboard player in the form of Admiral himself, two
pianos, one good player and one not too good (that's me) to express the theme
of the evening. This evening it rained, and we (my wife Maisy, and daughter
Joanne) had to come to the Admirals place by autorikshaw! Three slim people
can normally fit into one of these contraptions on an ordinary day, but when
it rains, somebody has to take the rain on the outside, especially if one
is not slim, and it was me! Since it was raining, a small snorter was most
welcome!
However the occasion on 3rd November 2006, a young person by the name of
Benny Prasad, was to share his personal experiences as a Christian and also
as a travelling musician and inventor of musical instruments. He demonstrated
his originally designed guitars which were a combination of a bongo, harp,
and twin-stalk guitar.
He had two guitars with him, and a third one was played by his friend and
fellow musician Ebernezer who 
played lead and rhythm guitar. Benny spoke about his playing at the Olympics
and the recent World Cup. He did not play his 'combo' guitar as he explained
that it took hours to tune and there was not time.
Since Benny was not able to play the guitar, he took out his laptop and
played a clip from his DVD recording. We were able to see him demonstrating
through playing the various sections on the guitar, but faintly heard the
instrument as the laptop had rather small speakers.
After that , Col. Tommy John, who had come with his wife, sat at the piano
and started playing along with Benny, he was then joined by Pauline Wajri,
who had come with her husband Barkos, and they tried to play a few pieces
with Benny. Not too successful as one cannot really play an acoustic instrument
like the piano with an amplified guitar, unless the sounds are electronically
mixed well, but it was entertaining for the evening. They tried to play
a few numbers together, but as it was getting late, the idea was canned.
However during dinner, Pauline did play a few individual pieces of her own.
Later Admiral joined on his twin keyboard electric organ.
I knew Col. Tommy John for a long time, and also liked his playing, and
I had suggested his name to Aruna, the Director of the Bangalore School
of Music, to back Bill Wurtzel
on his upcoming concert on 8th November, 2006.
This was the time I heard Pauline playing a few riffs on Admiral's Yahama
piano and that awakened in me a new identification of a musician I had not
herd in a long time. I can recall my friend Philo Macedo, do a similar style
of keyboard fingering. Later, I asked Pauline if she would play at Bill's
concert, and with a little hesitation, she accepted, and was to contact
Aruna. I did not wait for formalities, and spoke to Aruna and to Jagadeesh
of Radio Indigo and the rest is history.
The evening was delightful and Thelma, Admiral's sister put out her cooking
of some tasty Burmese dishes.
I was in a hurry to leave as it was getting on to 10.30pm, and had the
fear of not getting transport back home. We did get an autorikshaw immediately
after some prayers on the road! It was an eventful evening, first listening
to Benny and his guitars, then to Tommy John and Pauline, and Admiral Dawson,
meeting new people who were so talented, that I had not come across before,
which immediately made me make up my mind to engage them in the up and coming
event two days to come.
I must thank Admiral Dawson and Thelma for being such wonderful hosts.
Ronnie
Return to Bill Wurtzel's Concert
Return to Ronnie
Johnson's Home Page
However the occasion on 3rd November 2006, a young person by the name of
Benny Prasad, was to share his personal experiences as a Christian and also
as a travelling musician and inventor of musical instruments. He demonstrated
his originally designed guitars which were a combination of a bongo, harp,
and twin-stalk guitar. 
He had two guitars with him, and a third one was played by his friend and
fellow musician Ebernezer who 
played lead and rhythm guitar. Benny spoke about his playing at the Olympics
and the recent World Cup. He did not play his 'combo' guitar as he explained
that it took hours to tune and there was not time.
Since Benny was not able to play the guitar, he took out his laptop and
played a clip from his DVD recording. We were able to see him demonstrating
through playing the various sections on the guitar, but faintly heard the
instrument as the laptop had rather small speakers.
After that , Col. Tommy John, who had come with his wife, sat at the piano
and started playing along with Benny, he was then joined by Pauline Wajri,
who had come with her husband Barkos, and they tried to play a few pieces
with Benny. Not too successful as one cannot really play an acoustic instrument
like the piano with an amplified guitar, unless the sounds are electronically
mixed well, but it was entertaining for the evening. They tried to play
a few numbers together, but as it was getting late, the idea was canned.
However during dinner, Pauline did play a few individual pieces of her own.
Later Admiral joined on his twin keyboard electric organ.
The evening was delightful and Thelma, Admiral's sister put out her cooking
of some tasty Burmese dishes.
I was in a hurry to leave as it was getting on to 10.30pm, and had the
fear of not getting transport back home. We did get an autorikshaw immediately
after some prayers on the road! It was an eventful evening, first listening
to Benny and his guitars, then to Tommy John and Pauline, and Admiral Dawson,
meeting new people who were so talented, that I had not come across before,
which immediately made me make up my mind to engage them in the up and coming
event two days to come.