Western music and its influence has become a distinct entity by itself as a
form of music in India apart from its traditional, classical and regional folk
forms. The purpose of the article is to trace the influence and the origin of western
music in the early British Raj and subsequently in the post independence era in
Kolkata. The influence of jazz, blues, rock n roll and other rock genres has
shaped the so called IndiRock over the decades
Calcutta, India’s entertainment ‘capital’
“Calcutta was the entertainment
capital of India in the late 1950s, right up to the 70s,” remembers Deepak
Puri, 68, who inherited the management of Trinca’s from his father Om Prakash
in the 1980s. “Calcutta was the financial capital of India at that time, so all
the corporates were here.”
The live music industry in
Kolkata developed due to a combination of factors. “Western music”, as it was
called, was a legacy of British colonialism in India and during the British
Raj, Park Street had slowly developed from a residential neighborhood housing
long-time city residents as well as corporate employees, with a smattering of
high-end restaurants and bars that were frequented by a mostly expatriate
clientele. Nondon Bagchi, a city-based drummer for Chequered Tricycle, a 1970s
rock-band, says the live music industry in Kolkata developed as a result of
foreign troops, mainly US GI soldiers who were stationed in the city during the
Second World War. “There was a lot of entertainment for foreign troops in Park
Street, at the Great Eastern Hotel, in Dharmatala & Mission Row and central
Calcutta. There were restaurants and nightclubs on Chowringhee as well. Those bars and restaurants with dimmed lights
where the drummer and the guiterist would start jamming , the Kolkata western
music lovers bet their lives to be present to make those golden moments
memorable.The nostalgia now also can be found if we speak to the people who
were in their youths during the 60s and 70s era.
Garney Nyss & the Eloha Boys
was possibly the first band playing western music in Kolkata(1937) but that was
before Rock music arrived in the world. Rock music started in the late sixties
with Beatles, Rolling Stones, Deep Purple etc. Lew Hilt & Balakrishnan
(Great Bear & High) came in early seventies. Arthur Gracias & his
Sextet was the first professional band presenting Rock & Jazz Rock (
playing at the night-club at The Park) which Usha Ayer( Uththup) joined in
later, while Braz Gonsalves & his Sextet comprising Louis Banks, Carlton
Kitto, Peter Saldhana was the first Jazz group in Kolkata (playing
at Blue Fox).
Incidentally Garney Nyss was the
great grandson of Michael Madhusudan ( from his English wife). Garney was twice
selected for the Olympics in 1940 &
1944 (hockey) & was also the no.1 badminton player of West Bengal &
no.3 nationally. His band performed at the Roxy for the military boys during
the 2nd World War. Arthur Gracias now living in Australia. Louis Banks had
composed Doordarshan's signature tune
while we lost Carlton Kitto only last year.
Western music in Calcutta started
as Nandan says - with the advent of army boys and was mainly associated with
dancing like Waltz & traditional jazz. Rock & Roll started in late
fifties & almost faded out after mid-sixties.It even influenced Bengali
film music with 'Meteria medikar kabbo' & 'Ke tumi Nandini' & Hindi
films with ' Mera naam Ching-ching-chu', “Kaun hai jo swapno me aya” etc,
The generation of Kolkata during 50s
and 60s who have been intoxicated by names like Elvis ,Frank Sinatra , Bob
Marley , Harry Belafonte , Cliff Richard
never had the chance to click on YouTube but queued
at Free school street to latch on to those long playing records as soon as they
hit the market. The famous songs like Jamaica farewell or Matilda had their
influence later when the Bengali rock
bands were influenced to re - create those melodies in our local language.
Thankful to Mr Soumya Acahrya and Dr Gaurab Maitra for their valuable support
#CarltonKitto #NandanBagchi #GarneyNyss
