BERNADETTE Rounds-Ganilau still remembers people falling off trees and crowding around the Rounds’ family home in Flagstaff — the unofficial “entertainment” centre in the Capital City in the 50s and 60s.
Music, said the former broadcaster, writer and parliamentarian, was the norm at home and the centre of attraction was always the family matriarch and her mother, Bonita Rounds.
“Mum was an amazing woman as a person and way beyond her time as musician,” she shared.
“She was the only coloured person that was allowed into the Defence and Fiji clubs at that time — a privilege restricted only to white people — because of her outstanding talent and very popular music group called the Snappy Six,” she shared.
“Mum lived and breathed music because she was brought up in Tonga in a home where she was encouraged to play.
“Going to school was an option for her.
“Her family was quite comfortable and able to afford a few things like a piano and as a little girl, if she wanted to play piano all day, she was allowed to.
“And this also allowed her to develop her skills later on in life on the ukulele, guitar, banjo and even the violin.”
In the 1930s and 1940s, Bonita and her band commanded a fee of 100 pounds per gig which was unprecedented for that time and hugely significant of the Snappy Six’s popularity.
Music was the norm in the Rounds residence.
It was not unusual to see guitarists, banjo players and even saxaphonists making their way to the home for a jam.
“Our house was always full of music and I can confidently say that the music in our family came from mum.
“She was such a talented woman and we always had jam sessions at home.
“These were not quiet singalongs, they were full-blown gigs inside the house with a full ensemble and we even had Tom Mawi’s older brothers like drummer Ben and saxophonist Simione take part with my brothers and my younger brothers and I would have to entertain by dancing and singing along to the music played by mum and all these great musicians.
“Our outside yard would be full of people and we even had people up in the trees around the house.
“Sometimes we would hear a big yell when someone fell off.”
Bonita Rounds could be considered a pioneer in local entertainment because of her unrelenting efforts to get live band gigs in the most unusual of places.
“She used to organise dances at St Anne’s School on Pratt St in Suva with the assistance of Catholic priest extraordinaire, the late Father Bransfield.
“People would turn up dressed to the nines to hear the Snappy Six perform and we would have sandwiches and cups of tea.
“We have certainly lost the spirit of live music since this bygone era because times have changed and along with the changes, attitudes and the spirit of music and entertainment has taken on another veneer.”
The Snappy Six featured Bonita on piano, Rhoda Gibson on ukulele and Annie Williams among others.
“My aunt Muemue was also a part of the group and over time, the band evolved to include male members which were the Sandys brothers — Selwyn and Henry.”
Bonita’s love for music has spawned generations of musicians and singers and influenced many in the industry at the time to dedicate their lives to perfecting their skills.
Her sons John, Gordon and Victor all went on to form bands that set new musical standards in the country.
And her grand-daughter Michelle defied the glamour of pop music by pursuing a career as a jazz singer.
She fronted the country’s premier modern jazz outfit the Freelancers in the ’90s and even co-wrote two tracks on Draw Blood, the band’s debut album which was released in 1994.
Her duet with rhythm and blues superstar Steve Makaba — Isa Noqu Dau Domoni — has been hailed as a wonderful remake of an iTaukei classic.
After performing alongside the late greats — Ravai, Vili Tuilaucala and Paul Steven — Michelle moved to Australia and made a name for herself on the local circuit. She shifted focus and embraced funk, soul and numerous other genres with a number of bands around Australia and New Zealand before moving to Japan and then Egypt where she currently resides and performs at major jazz and music festivals in the Middle East, Mediterranean and Europe.
She has recently been invited to play at the inaugural Samoana Jazz & Arts Festival in November.
Michelle shared how her grandmother played a big influence on her decision to pursue music as a career.
“She was amazing,” she said, reminiscing about her childhood days in Flagstaff.
“And she was always ready to play, sing and dance even when she was in her twilight years.
“And she was very proud of her Tongan heritage which always came out when she got up to dance.
“It was always Tongan dancing, I never saw her do any other type of dance except the waltz with the men in our family from time to time.”
Michelle’s son, Zebulun, has also taken a keen interest as a producer and hip hop artist and with his generation taking up the music mantle, entertainment will continue to be synonymous with the Rounds name well into the future.
NEXT WEEK: The Rounds brothers and their time on the local music scene. Read about how John and Gordon played huge roles on the local entertainment circuit in the late ’50s and early ’60s and how their younger brother Victor began with his brothers and went on to forge a mega-successful career in Australia.
