Two of the 10 finalists who made it to the business end of the 2023 Domo Vou Talei original song competition and performed at the Woodstock Uprising Music Festival last Saturday had something in common.
They were the descendants of two of Fiji’s most renowned musicians — who unfortunately are not with us today.
Peter Tuilaucala, who goes by the stage name KingHitMiss is the grandson of legendary guitarist Vili Tuilaucala, and Tina Tui is the granddaughter of the inimitable jazz-fusion guitarist Robert Verma.
KingHitMiss said he did not remember much of his granddad, apart from what relatives told him.
“I know he was a good guitarist and well-known in Fiji but that’s about it because I was very young when he passed away,” the 19-year-old Tavua resident shared.
Tina, however, said she grew up surrounded by music and was heavily influenced by her grandfather.
“He was always practising, that’s something I remember the most about him,” the 22-year-old Lautoka resident said.
“He was a great guitarist and I also play guitar – maybe it’s his influence rubbing off on me. I am still finding my way in terms of my music though and I hope to one day go somewhere with it.”
Vili Tuilaucala was one of the pioneers of the smooth jazz guitar in Fiji in the ”70s and ’80s.
He made a name for himself as an individual artist but gained renown as a member of Fiji’s pre-eminent jazz-fusion group, The Freelancers.
The band, which held a residency at Traps nightclub along Victoria Pde in Suva, also featured Tui Ravai on keyboard, Paul Steven on drums and Niko Bulai on bass guitar among others.
It laid the platform for smooth jazz, latin jazz and other non-commercial genres at the time and hosted numerous gifted vocalists including Michelle Rounds, Manoa ‘Twistie’ Suguta and William Hatch.
Robert Verma, on the other hand, was widely regarded and respected as one of the pioneers of jazz-rock-fusion.
He began his career playing the resort scene in the late ’60s, ’70s and ’80s and was one of the founding members of Nostradamus – an ensemble that was the house band at the Hyatt Regency.
