Taj Mahal Foxtrot: The Story of Bombay's Jazz Age

200 Pages·2012·15.573 MB·English

by  Naresh Fernandes

lllwtw<HiiuiiM€i^^v^^
-i
W
4
e
IAHA
THE STORY OF BOMBAY'S JAZZ AGE
Naresh Fernandes
books
roli
In 1935, a violinist from Minnesota named Leon
Abbeybroughtthe first "all negro"'jazz band to
Bombay, leaving.^ legacy thatwould last three
decades. In a decade, swing would find its way
to the streets of India as it influenced Hindi film
music - the very soundtrack ofIndian life. The
optimism of jazz became an important element
in the tunes that echoed the hopes of newly
independent India.
This book,tells a story of India - and especially
ofthe city of Bombay- through the lives ofa
menagerie of geniuses, strivers and eccentrics,
mamao.
both Indian and American, who helped jazz
find a home in the sweaty subcontinent.They
include the burlyAfrican-American pianist
TeddyWeatherford; the Goan trumpet player
Frank Fernand, whose epiphanic encounter
with Mahatma Gandhi drove him to try to give
jazz an Indian voice; Chic Chocolate, who was
known as the Louis Armstrong of India; Anthony
Gonsalves, who lent his name to one of the most
popular Bollywood tunes ever; and many more.
TajMahal Foxtrot, at its heart, is a history of h
Panties
Bombay in swing time.
Aoremusicof J<

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
The Archive of Contemporary Music
http://archive.org/details/tajmahalfoxtrotsOOfern
?o
>

IAIJA
W ^^ ^WIR' M
llli J
Jijfcw
id"'
THE STORY OF BOMBAY'S JAZZ AGE
Naresh Fernandes
Lustre Press
Roli Books
All rights reserved. No part ofthis
publication maybe reproduced or
transmitted in anyform orby anymeans
without priorpermission ofthe publisher.
ISBN: 978-81-7436-759-4
©Text & Photographs: Naresh Fernandes, 2012
©Roli Books, 20I2
Published in IndiabyRoli Books
M-75, GreaterKailash-II Market
NewDelhi 110 048, India.
Phone: ++91-II-40682OOO
Fax: ++91-II-29217185
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.rolibooks.com
Editor: Priya Kapoor
Design: BonitaVaz-Shimray
Pre-press:JyotiDey
Production: Shaji Sahadeven
Printed andboundbyEIH Press, India.
In the late 1930s, the Plantation
Quartetdelighted Bombaywith their
renditions of Negro spirituals and
standards from the US South.
?s*
11?- *3fl rjt?^
.-
—
"r ~!-^
* * N
'ii
s>:
TheTaj Ballroom played host to some ofthe earliest ja2
bands to perform in India.