Bombay Jazz

[A Lark Ascending]

Fascinating World Service documentary, if you can get it on the BBC iPlayer (28 mins):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02200hm

Sarfraz Manzoor explores a fascinating period of music history in India when American violinist Leon Abbey brought his jazz band to Bombay in the 1930's, leaving behind an incredible legacy.

The early years of jazz calls to mind places such as New Orleans, Chicago and Paris. What is often overlooked is that the Indian city of Bombay, now Mumbai, had its very own thriving jazz scene in the 1930's that lasted three decades.

Manzoor charts the extraordinary story of jazz in India when some of the world's most accomplished musicians including Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong brought their talents to the east and mixed with performers such as Chic Chocolate, Micky Correa, Teddy Weatherford and Frank Fernand - all regarded in India today as jazz legends. This cultural exchange produced music that wove threads into Bombay's story. These threads would later become inextricably a part of the city's own definitive creation - Bollywood, and its music in particular.

Manzoor travels to Mumbai to visit Naresh Fernandes author of the critically acclaimed book The Taj Mahal Foxtrot. He meets with musicians and singers, the widow of Micky Correa and the daughters of Chic Chocolate and explores the development of jazz with saxophonist Braz Gonsalves, the first man to play Be-Bop in India. His journey ends in Goa, now regarded as the new 'jazz capital of India' by music promoter Colin D'Cruz .

Edited July 9, 2014 by A Lark Ascending