My city. Calcutta (NOT Kolkata). The myth and mystery of its jazz. I grew up listening to the tales of Park Street's swing era (yes, the tales - the music died before my time). Louis Banks. Usha Iyer (later Uthup). Pam Crain. Rubin Rebeiro. ...
Just came across this interesting page: Finding Carlton, on Facebook. No, not my friend Carlton Braganza (who isn't that tough to find - just follow the best swing voice in India to locate him), or the pretender Larry Carlton, who regaled audiences in Bangalore recently with his pop music. This is Carlton Kitto. The man who got me interested in jazz, way back in 1989.
I remember a balmy summer evening in Calcutta, when I tentatively stepped into the Calcutta School of Music,to hear Kitto play. I really don't remember why - I had heard as much jazz till then to fill in a dwarf's thimble. But there I was. Clueless, yet hopeful. Surrounded by people whose silver hair and coiffured attire made me even more uncomfortable (I was 16, so guess what I could have been wearing). Kitto started with some standards - Charlie Christian, Kenny Burrell, Django. I understood zilch - I knew as much of syncopation as I knew of brain surgery. After the first few pieces, I was wondering WTF I was doing there. But something clicked, and I hung on. Today, I remember Kitto's rendition of Burrell's "'Round Midnight".... Now, I had heard of Burrell - I was a big Hendrix fan, and knew that Burrell was a big inspiration (as he was for Stevie Ray Vaughan), but Kitto's song stuck in my head.
Carlton Kitto still plays in Calcutta. The years, the decline of Park Street (yes - the advent of night clubs in place of jazz bars is a decline), the shift in focus to other, more commercial forms of music, has not dulled his passion or his verve. I caught him live at Someplace Else last Decemeber, playing a couple of sets with Nondon Bagchi. There he sat, crouched over his guitar, with his back to crowd - bouncing off classics with the kind of aplomb that I am used to, from him. The magic, as the cliche' goes, lives on.Anyway, I can ramble forever on this once. Will post/write on this for the next few posts. Please join in, and post on your experiences, on jazz in India - in Calcutta or elsewhere...
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