Baila (also known as bayila; from the Portuguese verb bailar, meaning to dance[1]) is a form of music, popular in Sri Lanka and among Goan Catholics in India.
During the early 1960s, it entered into Sri Lanka's mainstream culture, primarily through the work of police officer turned singer Wally Bastiansz.
By the 1970s musicians, including MS Fernando and Maxwell Mendis, had helped Baila grow into a well known and respected style of Sri Lankan popular music.
After their arrival in 1505, the Portuguese began to convert the Sinhalese to Roman Catholicism, building their wealth and power through the spice and slave trade.
[1] In 1894, Advocate Charles Matthew Fernando wrote that chicote as a "slow and stately" music, while "kafrinha" is "faster and more boisterous" and "with a peculiar jerky movement".
[2] Along with some rhythmic elements, the often light-hearted comical lyrics, deceptively philosophical and the wada (debate,) baila tradition appears to be uniquely Sri Lankan.
The trumpet and military drums such as the snare and cymbals form part of the Papare bands popular throughout the coastal districts.
Due in part to this evolution, it is most often heard during parties, school reunions, charity dinner dances, hotel concerts and weddings.
Contemporary Baila is also characterized by comical lyrics, often loosely adapted from themes derived from Sri Lanka's history and/or folklore.
Fernando, Anil Bharathi, Christopher Paul, Priya Peiris La Bambas, Super Golden Chimes, Los Flamingos, Sunflowers (band), The Gypsies, and even Pandit W. D.