The British School Auditorium stage was brought to life by Gananath Dasanayake together with his band En Route on September 3. It was an absolutely delightful show with a full house and there was no place I would rather have been. The concert was held for a great cause, as the proceeds will be donated to the Music Project Charity involved in harnessing musical talents of children in Sri Lanka’s North and East. 

They opened the show with a beautiful rendition of the song ‘Almost Like In Love’ which immediately caught the attention of the whole audience. But it was when they played ‘I Wish You Love’ with Gananath on the saxophone that everyone was left mesmerized and speechless. The next thing you know everyone was clapping along to ‘I’m Getting Married In The Morning’ and having a fabulous time! 

Our favourite performance of the night was when Gananath sang ‘Ol Man River’ with such emotion and feeling that it had the whole audience at the edge of their seats. Composed by Jerome Kern it was one of the popular melodies that belong to The Great American Song Book and they did a fantastic job delivering it. 

The whole audience clapped along when they performed ‘En Route 66.’ This song is also the inspiration behind the band’s name En Route! They shared this exclusively with Daily Mirror before the show. 

The show wouldn’t have been complete if it didn’t include Sinatra. Their rendition of ‘Strangers In The Night’ gave us goosebumps and we were captivated till the end. Being a big fan of the song myself I absolutely loved it. They also performed beautiful versions of ‘New York, New York’ and ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ as promised! 

The show also featured Kovida De Seram, a new artist to the industry who sang many Dean Martin classics. He did a fantastic job especially with this being his first time on stage. I particularly enjoyed his renditions of two of Martin’s popular songs ‘Volare’ and an ‘Evening In Roma’ with his put on Italian accent! 

Bimal Wimalaratne also graced the stage on many occasions and had the audience laughing with his comical skits and presence! 

The band consists of Maxwell Peterz on Bass, Debbie Arnolda on Keyboard, Ramesh Nonnis on Guitar, Niroshan De Silva on Drums and Gananath Dassanayake on Vocals and Saxophone. Each one outdid the other in excellence which contributed to a fabulous performance overall. They were also joined by Philip Seneviratne on Organ who also did a fantastic job that added to this great show! 

The audience was left with the promise that En Route will return to the stage in six months’ time with more beautiful renditions of songs from The Great American Song Book celebrating Jazz music. Let’s do our part by holding them to it! 

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Comments From The Audience 

Mr. & Mrs. De Silva 

It was a superb show and we really enjoyed the music! 

Dr. Pramilla Senanayake 

It was a wonderful show! Gananath sings very well! But more that it was done for a very good cause which was great. 

Malathi Gunasekera 

It was a fantastic and fabulous show! 

Anura Gunasekara 

It was a marvellous show! We always enjoy Gananath’s shows. 

Amala Jayakody 

We never miss Gananath’s shows! The concert was fabulous! 

Dr. Saroja Atapattu 

Excellent show! It was very relaxing and I loved it! 

Disa Weerapana 

It was superb and great in every way! 

Denika Wijesinghe 

I love songs from the Great American Song Book and this was without doubt a wonderful show! 

Dr. Anojana Jayaseelan 

It was awesome! A really good show! 

Jay Liyanage 

I am a big fan of the Great American Song Book particularly of Rod Stewart and Dean Martin and Gananath did a really good job! 

Jith Seneviratne 

To describe it in one word: Fabulous! 

Nihal Seneviratne 

I enjoyed it all the way! 

Rukshan and Rashmi Fernando 

We had a great time and really enjoyed the songs from the Great American Song Book! 

Pavithra Perera 

It was very interesting and very well organised. En Route always delivers and keeps up to standard! And it was just as amazing as their last show. 

Isuru De Silva 

It was everything we expected it to be and we are looking forward for more! 

Photographs by Waruna Wanniarachchi