A musician’s whistle, two rejections, an emotional appeal and a
final yes. That is just the few details of how Ronnie Monserrate convinced
Lorna to make her comeback to singing. After working together on two albums,
‘Aikat Mhozo Tallo’ and ‘Hello Lorna’ till 1997, neither of them performed
together. After 25 years, Lorna will be performing with Ronnie Monserrate on
grand piano in an unplugged concert, organised by Goa Forgiving in
collaboration with Goa Heritage Festival. They will be accompanied by Bosco
Monsorate on trumpet, Blasco Monsorate on trombone, Roque Lazarus on double
bass and Carlos Gonsalves on percussion. The concert will be held at the
Gonsalves Mansion, Campal on November 19 from 8.30 pm onwards.
While taking a break from her rehearsal,
Lorna says, “At first, I was a bit nervous about playing with Ronnie and his
brothers because they are world class musicians. But we broke the ice soon
enough, and the energy of the ‘Hello Lorna’ show came back strongly. People
must remember that it was Ronnie who got me back in 1995 at that show, after
the big 23 years gap. And performing ‘Unplugged’ is something that I am doing
for the first time, and it’s going to be a special night.”
Armando Gonsalves of Goa Forgiving is
happy to have Ronnie Monserrate back in Goa for a concert and even more excited
for Lorna. “One evening, Ronnie, Lorna, Shaen and I were jamming in my house
and I thought how wonderful it would be to have such a session with more
musicians. I am happy that this is now a reality and the Monserrate Brothers
are back to perform with Lorna,” says Armando.
Rewinding to the early 1960s, Ronnie
Monserrate was just 19 years old when he got an opportunity to play for the
legendary Chris Perry’s band. He was part of the Sunday brunch gigs at Venice
and would take the place of the pianist Anicleto Noronha. However, it was not
an easy journey to reach this stage. Ronnie Monserrate’s father, Peter, was
known as the ‘Harry James of India’. “We are a family of seven brothers and two
sisters. There were families with many musicians but my father wanted sons who
could complete the notes of music and so my youngest brother was named Octavio.
As our father was a musician, we were trained from a very young age to play music,”
says Ronnie, the second son of late Peter. Ronnie was trained to play the piano
by another musical genius, Anthony Gonsalves.
Among the brothers, they play the trumpet, trombone, drums,
guitar, piano and violin. With all the brothers working on their solo musical
careers, they haven’t performed together for over a decade and now, three
brothers are in Goa rehearsing for their concert with Lorna. While her voice
has the power to gather huge crowds, this will be a more intimate and soulful
experience as the concert with be unplugged with acoustic flare.
Ronnie is solely responsible from bringing Lorna back on stage
after a break of 23 years from music. He vividly remembers his conversations
with Lorna and how he approached her for the first time in 1995. While
promoting one of his albums in Goa, he was hounded by questions about Lorna. He
had left the Bombay music scene after performing last with Lorna in 1971 and
had performed in different cities of India. “Everyone kept asking me where is
Lorna? So I decided to pay her a visit. I knocked on the door and she answered
with ‘who is it’ and I whistled, which was a musician’s code. She understood
that it was a musician and asked again to which I replied, ‘Ronnie’. She said,
‘Who Ronnie, Peter’s son?’ and opened the door. I had a nice conversation with
her and asked her about making a comeback with a music album. ‘I feel my voice
has rusted and I won’t be able to sing’, she said. I urged her to sing one song
and she did with the same voice, that I had heard all those years ago,” says
Ronnie as he reminisces his meet with Lorna.
“I returned the second time and she again told me that the
chapter is closed. On my third visit, her bedridden mother, Cecelia, who might
have been in her 80s, rose from the bed and she said that, ‘he is a god sent
angel who has come to you, please don’t say no to him and started crying,” says
Ronnie.
He further adds, “We started working on the album, ‘Aikat Mhozo
Tallo’ and I informed V P Sinari about Lorna singing in the album. He travelled
to Mumbai with me to meet Lorna personally so that he could hear it from her. I
got Gabru Gomes to write the title track and it was his dream to write a song
for Lorna. Soon after writing the first song, he passed away and Larry Tiracol
wrote the lyrics for the rest of the nine songs.”
When Ronnie returned
to Goa in 1995 with Lorna’s first concert at Miramar beach, he was mesmerised
to see a sea of heads. “It was an amazing feeling so see so many people who had
come to hear her. The minute she sang the first line, the crowds started
roaring and we had to stop the music till they stopped chanting, ‘Lorna,
Lorna!’. People still remember this concert,” says Ronnie, who went on to do a
second album with Lorna, ‘Hello Lorna’ in 1997.
Post that they both went in different directions with their live
performances in different parts of the world. There was no turning back for
Lorna and she has been enthralling Goans across the diaspora. She has been
headlining Goan events and being praised for her voice even at the age of 78.
At the unplugged concert, she will be performing 12 songs.
“There will be a small set by the Monserrate Brothers and a solo by Carlos
Gonsalves. Lorna will also be joined by Nicole, who will be singing to give a
break to Lorna,” says Ronnie about the line-up for the concert.
Naik
