leon Abbey, an American Jazz violinist, was the first to bring an all-Black band to India in 1935. The drummer of the Dixieland band died on an Indian tour due to heat. Such interesting facts came to light during a lecture on African-American Jazz musicians in India. By Shrabasti Mallik
It was the year 1947 and the month of India’s Independence. Freedom fighters and leaders of the country held a banquet at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. At such an evening, one would expect an Indian classical music performance, but it may come as a surprise that Indian Jazz musician Chic Chocolate was invited to play Jazz music.
The fact that Jazz or swing music was one of the first Western genre to influence the Indian music industry might not have featured in musical brochures and highlighted in discussions but its influence can be found in numerous Bollywood songs produced in the 60s and 70s. Remember the song Eena Meena Dika composed by C Ramchandra for the movie Aasha (1950)IJ It was perhaps one of the many songs with the blend of Indian beats and Jazz melodies. Owing to considerable research done by Jazz enthusiast Naresh Fernandes, many now know that Jazz first arrived in Goa. The natives, who were mostly trained in classical music, picked up the nuances of the new genre. According to Jazz legend louis Armstrong, it was a “cultural exchange.”
There are, however, many unknown facts about the arrival of Jazz in India. The Dixieland was the first Jazz band to come on an India tour in 1923, said researcher and scholar John J langdon IV, during a presentation of the history of Indian Jazz at the American Centre.
Through pictures, he showed how Dixieland was the first White band from New Orleans to visit India and shared how their drummer died during the tour due to heat. “They thought that without a drummer the band would collapse and in a desperate attempt, approached the British army for help. The army allowed a British drummer to accompany them on the rest of the tour,” added langdon, who has studied the history of African-American Jazz musicians in India.
It is a lesser-known fact that leon Abbey, an American jazz violinist was the first to bring in an all-Black band to India in 1935 and that Creighton Thompson, the voice behind the iconic Taj Mahal Foxtrot, came to Bombay from Europe. “Thompson was forced to leave Germany due to Hitler and travelled to Paris before landing in India. And he brought Jazz with him,” said langdon.
Most of the hotels in Mumbai and Kolkata (then Bombay and Calcutta), from the 1920s till the 1940s, hosted Jazz evenings and musicians lived in residence at the hotels. “There is also a reasonable doubt as to how much the genre reached beyond the walls of these hotels before Goan musicians took it to Bollywood,” langdon pointed out.
But during the course of his study on Jazz musicians in India, langdon came across an interesting piece of information. “I thought that Jazz reached a certain class of people here but during my research I came to know that pianist Teddy Weatherford’s funeral procession in India was attended by 40,000 people. So there was some connection with the common man,” he added.
Another pianist Edward Saldanha, better known by his stage name Dizzy Sal, was one of the first Goan musicians who took Jazz to Bollywood. “The first of many,” cleared langdon. A young Sal was noted by Jazz legend Dave Brubeck, considered to be one of the foremost exponents of cool Jazz, during his India tour and was sponsored to study at the Berklee College of Music. “It was a cultural exchange and it changed Sal’s life. He brought back that knowledge with him and incorporated that into Bollywood,” langdon said.
One might wonder how this genre, which has its roots in Africa and is said to have originated from New Orleans, was adapted by so many cultures across the world. It is because of its element of improvisation, said langdon and recalled what Jazz trombonist JJ Johnson had once said — “Jazz is restless. It won’t stay put and it never will.” langdon added, “It gives a musician the liberty to compose on the spot and the US government recognised the coalition between Jazz and democratic balance. Improvisation, co-operation and individualism are all tenets of a stable democracy.
A musician has the liberty to improvise on the stage but at the same time he has to co-operate with his band mates.” That led to the government to start a world Jazz tour funded by the state department, so as to initiate cultural exchange. This was an attempt to engage with communities. But there were also dark sides to the tour. “While the US promoted the culture throughout the world, segregation remained at home.
When the Black musicians who were sent to India, Afghanistan and Iran would return, they were treated differently. They were not allowed to use the public restrooms and had to sit in front of the bus. Dave and his wife, Iola Brubeck, compiled an album The Real Ambassador with a track called Can God be Black, which was sung by Armstrong, to raise a voice against discrimination,” informed langdon.