Part 16

Jack said that he had saved the disc to his computer and would like to share it with some friends of his and we told him that he would need to contact Salman to get his permission but we were sure that Salman would be happy with it as long as it improved his chances for a successful tour. I gave them the name of the venue he managed.

Jack said that he would love to hear us live and Tavleen said that she would see our manager about getting them added to the guest list of one of the receptions we had booked. We were given afternoon tea and Balnoor got the disc back and we bade our host farewell to head home again. On the way we talked about the visit and Balnoor told us that Jack had contacts with a lot of recording companies and producers and, hopefully, would be able to smooth our way should Salman want to go further. Back home I got off at my floor after giving them both a hug and went to my room as they carried on up to the next floor to finish their perfect day.

I wondered about the day and thought that our visit had been a bit pre-emptive but it had happened and the worse that could happen was that nothing would happen. Monday I got a call from Janet who wanted to meet and we made arrangements to meet at a café. When I walked in she was sitting with Salman and the recording tech. Salman said that he had received a call last night from a very influential person and thanked me for giving out his contact number. I told him that it was all down to Balnoor as he and Jack had been to school together. He told us that he had sent the new masters off to India on Friday evening and his cousin had rung him on Sunday, demanding to know how on earth he had managed to turn his standard album into something so good that his manager had insisted the two albums should be released in India. The one already released would have the original name but with ‘reworked with Tradition in mind’ as the title.

He then told me that if the album is a success we would have to fly to India to do a promotional TV spot with Anudeep but any tour would need to wait until the second album went on sale. In the meantime, we all needed to front up at a professional photographer with our stage gear on to get a couple of good photos to send overseas. I looked at Janet and said we would need something colour-matched for Balnoor if we did that and he would need stage kit for our future shows. I asked Salman if he had given permission for Jack to send the disc to his friends and he said he had given him written permission and had emailed it off this morning.

He then said “I want the band into the studio as soon as we can arrange it and Tom, here, will record another CD. I want it to be called ‘Traditional Music the Dhawanee Way’ and I will send to India to come out alongside Anudeeps’ next one. It could also be released here if the tour happens.” I asked that we were all kept in the loop through Janet but that, whatever happens, I wanted us to have a break of at least a month next year around May or June. Both he and Janet made note of that and Janet looked at me with a questioning eye and I just shrugged and said that I was likely to need a surgical intervention around that time as things were starting to go wrong with an important part of me and it was unlikely I would be scheduled before then, seeing the waiting lists as they were.

Salman said that it would be perfect timing as he could send us to India before that to do the promotion and the Anudeep could come here for the tour in July to August and we could then take the whole show back to India in September for as long as it took. He thought it was perfect but I wondered if I could fit a summer wedding into his schedule. After Salman and Tom had left I sat with Janet and she asked me if my problem was ‘womens troubles’ and I agreed. We discussed new outfits for everyone and she sent a text to Balnoor asking him what his sizes were. She then said “You know, Geet, this has taken me well outside my normal comfort zone. I am just a person who books bands for social events and weddings. I am not experienced in all this high flying overseas stuff.” I told her that it will all happen as it happens and that, by the time she needed to do something totally new, she would have learned all the things she needed to know. “I hope you’re right” she said “everything seems to have fallen into place so far.”

We then spoke about our upcoming bookings and tried to see where we could fit some recording in. We had a reception every Saturday evening for a month so I suggested that we do the recordings during weekday evenings, maybe a session a week until we had the CD recorded. I said that it would be just like our shows but without any of the western songs and that we had an easy couple of hours with love songs and a raga or two. She said she would take it up with Tom to see what he thought. She gave me a hug as we parted and I went off to see if I could buy some cheap ear-rings as I was sure I could take out the studs I had and replace them with loops or drops.

The rest of the week was, thankfully, a little less frantic. I did report back to the rest of the girls about what Salman had proposed and they were all amazed at the thought of going to India to do one show. Tavleen did point out to the others that in a country with several hundred million people there was sure to be big money to be made with a hit album so the few thousand it would cost to take us there and back would be a drop in the ocean. On Wednesday evening we had a half-hearted practice so that Balnoor could get a handle on some of our western songs, most of which he knew already.

Thursday I got a text from Birgitta with a request to meet for lunch. We had a nice meal and then she reached into her bag and pulled out two passports. One was my original one which had the seals cut off and stamped ‘cancelled’. The other was a shiny new one in the name of Gayle Joanne Fooks and a photo of the new me. The date of birth and place of birth were the same but this one classed me as female. I said “This is wonderful, thank you, how much do I owe you?” She told me that my payment would be taken when I look after her in her old age, the same way she now looks after Aganee.

That afternoon I rang the surgeons’ office and made a booking for SRS surgery and I was lucky that the earliest I could get in was the first week of May, next year. I had an appointment made to have a check-up with them in the February and another to follow up and meet the surgeon in April. I wrote all the details down, including the various addresses. The girl in the office asked that I send my referral to them by registered mail and then she would post me the paperwork I needed to fill out. It looked like things were starting to come together.

I also rang the salon and made an appointment to have my falsies reglued properly as my skin had returned to normal and it did not feel normal without them attached. The girl said that my semi-permanent was likely to be getting a little faded and could do with a touch up if I wanted to continue with it. We decided to talk about it when I was there on Monday morning.

Friday morning Janet rang and asked me to meet her at the studio. When I got there I found Salman, Janet and Tom in the office. When I had sat down, Salman said that he was happy with us recording an album of our show songs and that he had booked the studio for Tuesday and Thursday evenings for the next four weeks, with longer being all right if we needed it. Janet said that she would text the whole band with the schedule and also that she would pick us up on Saturday afternoon for our show at another reception. “This one” she said “is not traditional so you will need your western songs as well.”

They left me with Tom to finalise details and the first thing he said was “Western songs, I thought you only did traditional?” I explained that we did a range of normal songs for the Anglo parts of the audience and that there were a lot of the younger set among the Indian community that did not follow the old ways. He said “Follow me, I think we may have some guys who would like to speak to you.”

He led me down to the studio where a small jazz group were practising. “Guys” he said as we walked in “I would like you to meet Geet, the girl who did the duets on that master I played for you. She now tells me that she also sings western songs.” I shook hands with the four guys and was told their names but everything went out of my head when the piano player asked “How would you like to sing for us this morning, just to see if you like jazz. We discussed your voice after we heard those duets and decided that you had a good jazz style” I told him that I had already been told that I sang in a fado style sometimes. He showed me a playlist and I pointed out some that I knew and he rummaged around and found the words. In for a penny, I thought and took off my coat. They adjusted a microphone for me and Tom went into the control room.

For the next two hours we played with the standards and I had a ball singing in my fado style and learning, by following the beat, to sing jazz-blues in the old way. When we finished, they all clustered around me and gave me a hug. Tom said that if I wait awhile he would cut me a disc with the best of what we had done on it. I asked “Did we do enough for that?” and he told me that he had enough to put out a jazz-blues album if we wanted to. The guys in the band said that I would be signed already so it was not possible but I told them that my contract with Janet, and by association with Salman, was as Geet. I pulled out my new passport and said “There is no reason you cannot list me as Gayle Fooks.”

Marianne G 2021