There Will Never Be Another You

A few hours ago, a New York morning was shadowed by a passing in Kolkata (Calcutta).  It marked the end of  the earth life of Pam Crain , India’ first and only jazz diva, who , in a remarkable career that began as a teenager, way back in the 1930’s (with Sonny Lobo’s band) went on to become the jazz voice of India…After finishing her gigs on earth, she now joins the Great Gig in the Sky..in the company of the finest.

Her story is one of passion, and dedication for the music she loved, as she said “its hard work ,  it didnt come easy” …but it took her to fame, but not always fortune…respect for her outstanding and extraordinary talent, and most of all adoration and love from thousands of Pam-struck mesmerized  fans. For so many , she was the voice of jazz,  often their first introduction to live jazz in an era where live jazz of her quality was a scarce and rare treasure. They went home, with a vision of Pam in her Diva gown wafting in their heads and hearts, and a musical phrase with her voice in their ears..and from then on jazz, for many, truly began. She was the voice of the legendary Blue Fox in Calcutta (now a McDonalds) , and later at the Oberoi in Bombay.  Inspired first by Carmen McRae and Sarah Vaughn, she then, as she tells the story..”was in Bombay, and this guy who was from the American Embassy, he and his wife, insisted I go to their house, and said you must listen to this person, because you sing like her…and they put on this record and though the head phones ..i heard this voice, I was blown away , I cannot tell you how I felt ..I was in shock..”  it was the great Betty Carter..and as Mr.Louiz Banks says in our Documentary Finding Carlton – Uncovering the Story of Jazz in India..”she just wanted to sing like Betty Carter” And when she met Betty in Bombay , in the early ’80’s they bonded like a mother and daughter.. and Pam “went to Heaven, that time, when we met and hung out”. Unfortunately there are just a few recordings of Pam, but her voice is carried on in many hearts.. Here is a find from the very early 70’s’s with the Braz Gonsalves 7 Pam was gracious, charming and full of sparkle and wit. She made a tremendous effort to help document her part of the Story of Indian Jazz, for us  when we filmed in Calcutta in 2010. She was fragile and it was clearly difficult for her to participate.  But lights, camera and action,brought back the Diva, after all she was on stage, and she would perform, regardless of pain and other things that got in the way.  She was the consumate professional. Pam was full of stories.. we filmed about three hours with Pam.. stories of jazz in Calcutta, and her gigs elsewhere, of club owners, of musicians, of stories of jazz nights that only jazz people can truly believe,  of her life , her triumphs , and yes, even paths she took that did had unhappy endings. She was honest.

 My lasting memory of her is the compliment she paid after seeing our film .. “You really respected us musicians, thank you for telling all our stories”.. That was Pam, she understood what it took.

Her husband the gracious and gentle Donald Saigal and her talented musical daughter – Sonia Saigal are left with the memories. Our sincere condolences to them and her family of dear ones all over the world Rest in Peace  , Ms Crain.. There WIll Never Be Another You

There will be many other nights like this,  And I’ll be standing here with someone new.  There will be other songs to sing,  Another fall…another spring…  But there will never be another you. 

There will be other lips that I may kiss,  But they won’t thrill me,  Like yours used to do.  Yes, I may dream a million dreams,  But how can they come true,  If there will never, ever be another you?

(Listen to: There will never be another you– Harry Warren , Mack Gordon)

And here, from Finding Carlton is a tribute to Pam Crain.

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FINDING GOOD

Our Film was made possible by the generosity and goodwill of over 120 people from all over the world.. On Sunday May 26th, the generosity of spirit continues when Finding Carlton will screen in Zurich, to raise funds for the Future Hope School- Kolkata

http://www.futurehope.net

We are moved and touched by the desire to use this film to Find Good. Thank you Natasha !

Dokumentarfilms ‘Finding Carlton’, Der Erlös aus der Veranstaltung geht zugunsten der Stiftung „Future Hope“ in Kalkutta , Indien.

„Finding Carlton“: In seinem 75-minütigen Dokumentarfilm ’Finding Carlton’ entdeckt und erforscht der Regisseur Susheel Kurien die wenig
bekannte Geschichte der Jazz-Zeit in Indien zwischen den 20er und 70er Jahren. Die Tanzsäle und Cabarets der wichtigsten indischen Städte
wurden von afro-amerikanischen Jazzmusikern frequentiert, die aufgrund der Rassen-Dikriminierung während der 20er Jahre die USA verliessen.
Die Präsenz der amerikanischen Armee in Kalkutta während des zweiten Weltkrieges und vom US State Department unterstützte Jazz-Touren in
Indien beeinflussten zudem die Popularität des Jazz in Indien.

Diese bisher noch nahezu unbekannte Geschichte des Jazz in Indien wird erstmals von Susheel Kurien in seinem interessanten Dokumentarfilm
‚Finding Carlton’ erzählt.

Der 2012 produzierte Film wurde in den USA am United Nations 2012 International Jazz Day sowie unter anderem am Brampton Global Jazz
& Blues Festival und an den Universitäten Columbia und Rutgers vorgeführt.

Im Juni 2013 wird „Finding Carlton“ in Paris im Musée du Quai Branly in Zusammenarbeit mit der Sorbonne Universität gezeigt.

Weitere Informationen finden sie unter: http://www.findingcarlton.com

Finding Paris – The French Connection

click to enlarge

Between 1950 and 1952,  Calcutta was home to the  “Le premier négre du jazz, made in France” (= The first “black” French jazz musician) – Alix Combelle and the “modern” sound of his sextet – three saxes, and a rhythm section.

We followed up in a  2011 Update with interesting documentation including a photo of the band in Calcutta.

Next, in 2012- came the French Connection, and our friendship with Stephane Dorin, who shared this documentation written by the remarkable “Godfather of Jazz in India”  – Niranjan Jhaveri, found in  Charles Delaunay and Hughes Panassié ‘s  Jazz Hot Magazine  (1955)

And now in 2013..more news of the French jazzmen in India ?

HELPING CARLTON !

The French Connection

Four years ago, when we began this project, we had little idea of the interest that might surround it.. and apart from a few whisky sodden minds here and there, we were under the distinct impression that interest in similar research and uncovering was restricted to the aforesaid flotsam and jetsam of peripheral jazz trivia.. How wrong we were.. and little did we know at that time that scholars and learned souls were steadily pursuing and uncovering more of the the rich history that has materialized into this film.. And we regret most heartily that we not privileged to meet them along the way and benefit from their academic scholarship..

And thus , this French Connection

In 2011 we wrote about how the legendary French tenor man Alix Combelle.. found his way to Calcutta

ALIX COMBELLE

….and then, then in 2011,  more about Alix Combelle…and then, in response,  from Our Gentleman of Perpetual Indian Jazz Archives (aka Naresh Fernandes the author of the very fine book Taj Mahal Foxtrot)  shared with us Niranjan Jhaveri’s 1953 review of Alix’s performance in Calcutta.. but was this the only French Jazz Connection to our continuing story ?

Well, around the spring of 2011, the Finding Carlton Blog received the following letter from France:

I came across your Bluerhythm website, and was so delighted to see someone has done a documentary on Cartlon Kitto.

Stephane Dorin , in Calcutta 1997.. working on his Research

I met him 15 years ago in Calcutta, at the beginning of my PhD on jazz and rock culture in Calcutta. I also met Arthur Gracias, Amit Datta, Rubien Rebeiro, Anto Menezes and my friend Tuki from Krosswindz.

I have been to Calcutta around 10 times, the last one was in 2009. …. I am a social scientist in Paris,…..I mostly wrote in French, but I recently published an article on Jazz and race in colonial India, in Jazz Research Journal. It might be of some interest to you…This month also, I am publishing another article, of a larger scope, but in French, in the anthropology review L’Homme (issue 202, 2012).

Astounding.….!

But, wait,, it turns out that Stephane Dorin’s, scholarly work, Jazz and Race in Colonial India was rich in detail and explored the nuances of culture that gave rise to the jazz culture that prevailed thereafter.  His research included study of materials available from the Roy Butler Collection, in Chicago…from where arrived this image of a contract that lured an American jazzman to play in India.

Stephane also opined , quite succinctly, that although Bombay with its many Goan musicians had a rich jazz history, it was Calcutta , that in many ways was the “mothership”..  he says..  “Anglo-Indian musicians acted as go-betweens, passing down the theoretical knowledge of western harmony as well as the practice of western instruments to the generations of post-Independence India. Moreover, they were the first Indian musicians to perform jazz and blues standards in Calcutta or Bombay, around World War II. Thus, they played a major role in the diffusion of jazz and blues music in India.”

In our film,  Finding Carlton, we share the story of Herb Flemming the “first Jazz Ambassador”who landed in Bombay in 1933, after a brief rest stop in Bombay, proceeded almost immediately to Calcutta and the Grand Hotel..

In the summer of 2011 we had the opportunity to meet with Stephane and get to know this passionate scholar who continues to have focus on the “Circulation of Jazz outside the United States”..

Stephane Dorin:   http://www.stephanedorin.fr

Maître de conférences à l’université Paris 8 Chercheur en délégation au Centre Européen de sociologie et de sciences politiques (CESSP) UMR 8209 CNRS/EHESS/Université Paris1-Panthéon-SorbonneCentre Pouchet, CESSP, 59-61 rue Pouchet, 75849 Paris Cedex 17

Stephane has been diligently working on uniting scholars from around the world who have looked at this ..and as his network has expanded  it now spans to academics at various universities. He has had remarkable outreach and will hopefully be able to unite a worldwide team of authorities in seminal conference …where for the first time they will look at how jazz cultures were birthed and flourished outside the United States.. and hopefully as they pursue this discourse , there will be Finding Carlton (and) Uncovering the Story of jazz in India

Meeting Marty Napoleon

On June 11th, Finding Carlton screened at the Furman Film Series, courtesy of the Great Neck Arts Center. Our audience was a mixed bag of documentary film fans, jazz folks and the plain curious ..”Jazz in India ?!!”

Our MC for the evening was the delightful Michael Steinman of Jazz Lives!

Among the jazz musicians present was the legendary  Marty Napoleon…

Marty had the unique ability to whip a crowd into a frenzy, and he was aptly described as “Louis Armstrong’s exciting pianist.”  His stride piano was a significant part of post WWII New York’s club scene. In 1957 he was a key member of Henry “Red” Allen’s house band from the Metropole. The band featured tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, trombonist J.C. Higginbotham, clarinetist Buster Bailey, pianist Marty Napoleon, guitarist Everett Barksdale, Lloyd Trotman on bass and Cozy Cole on drums.

At 91, Marty is the last surviving member of the Louis Armstrong All Stars.  He has had an extraordinary career as a working and touring musician and more importantly is one of the few musicians of his era who continued to gig well into his 80’s.  From a lineage that has included Earl Hines, and Teddy Wilson.. Marty’s stride piano was distinctive and unquestionably that of a master. Turn up your speakers, and feel the thunder…

He is a fascinating and charming man, with an energy and a zest for life that is unmistakeable. And he loves his music and is joyous in his expression of how richly blessed he is to be a musician.

Marty was very keen on watching the film and it was a distinct honor for us to have him attend.  He had heard about its subject and setting, and although requiring of wheelchair assistance  came to the screening because of its intriguing historical perspective.  He was blown away by the story and the tale of Teddy Weatherford..a fellow stride piano pioneer..and he was fascinated by this jazz story that came out of India. The musicians stories from the film resonated with that of his own life and many others, and were reflective of an era that has passed by, both for him and many others.

But what got him most excited was the film’s tribute and recognition of the role of Herb Flemming …The 50’s club circuit had brought Herb back to New York and Marty had worked with him in an era of working bands and regular gigs on Swing Street “I knew that guy well” said Marty, ” I played with him !”  A connection by way of Brooklyn to Calcutta!

This is the video sequence on Herb Flemming

Left to right: Don Varella, Stan Johnson, Marty Napoleon, Fraser MacPherson. Penthouse, Vancouver, B.C. April 4, 1952. |Source=[http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmacp/370599290/ Marty Napoleon 1952] |Date= 1952 |Author=Courtesy of guyman22

Both these men came from a different time.. when clubs and audiences offered livelihood and appreciation , and the combination propelled musicians to new heights and innovation. Marty’s world was the flourishing jazz scene in the United States and Europe, a working and touring musician with New York as his “gig central”.

Flemming was a nomad.  Indeed, he was one of the early internationalist’s  of the jazz,  and his travels took him from New York to France, and then to South America, Shanghai, Calcutta and Ceylon as well as the nightclubs of London!  He was truly the first great jazz ambassador.

And it was India where members of Flemming’s International Rhythm Aces found new homes, and new careers…and some stayed on to create India’s jazz generations..All told in the Film ..FINDING CARLTON – Uncovering the Story of Jazz in India

And to close..listen to this inspiring message from Marty on his 90th birthday…

June 11th – Next Screening

Our next Screening is on June 11..at the Furman Film series 

The Furman Film Series presents a sophisticated cross-section of powerful and thought-provoking independent, art, classic, and foreign films. The series mainly hosts sneak previews of highly anticipated films prior to their theatrical release dates followed by a discussion with a relevant speaker who provides exciting insight into the film and subject matter.

Our moderator will be the irrepressible and knowledgeable editor of Jazz Lives – the one and only Michael Steinman

Here’s what Michael “had to say about FINDING CARLTON after my first viewing.”

Even people who are not terribly interested in jazz in the intricate ways some of us are will also find much to admire in the portraits captured in it.  And the jazz-fanciers in the audience sat up, enthralled, throughout it. 

The film concentrates on two musicians: guitarist Carlton Kitto, who found himself entranced by the sound of Charlie Christian on the records his mother played at home while she cooked or cleaned — and Louiz Banks, a Grammy-nominated producer and jazz pianist.  Carlton takes our attention and never lets it go, both because he swings delicately yet powerfully, and because he is a sweetly endearing character. 

Unlike some documentaries I have seen where the story is compelling yet the characters are off-putting, everyone in the audience fell in love with Carlton, his sweet sincerity and his devotion to his music.  It did not surprise anyone that when Carlton got pushed on stage when the Ellington orchestra played a concert in India, that Ellington himself warmed to the young guitarist, invited him to sit in, and that Carlton improvised six choruses on SATIN DOLL with the band.  I’m only sorry that the Duke wasn’t able to hire Carlton on the spot and take him on tour.

FINDING CARLTON is full of the results of the most fascinating archival research, but it is not simply a film for those people whose heads are full of record labels and matrix numbers. The fruits of that research are vivid onscreen, in the photographs, sounds, colors and textures of the Indian jazz scene from the Twenties onward — with quick but telling portraits of deeply inspiring players including the world-class pianist Teddy Weatherford, the elusive trombonist Herb Flemming. The stories Sushiel has uncovered talk of Larry Coryell and Billy Taylor, of Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, of jamming with Sonny Rollins in an ashram. As well as these famous names, we encounter people and players who go straight to our hearts: the first-rate singer Ruben Rebeiro, the devoted jazz fan Farokh Mehta, singers Pam Crain and Christine Correa — we watch the radiance on Christine’s face when she is able to hear a broadcast of her father’s band for the first time, music she heard as a child but never knew existed.

Kurien has a splendid eye — even though this is his first film — for the little human details that bring both individual characters and a larger world (now, perhaps no longer quite so vibrant) into focus and into our hearts. FINDING CARLTON blossoms with lovely montages of the present and the past, the aural and the visual, the moving and the still. It is respectful but never dull, informative but never preachy or didactic.

I urge you to make a small jazz pilgrimage to see it: it is fully realized, lively, and deeply moving. I came away from it with some feelings of loss: one of the later scenes shows Carlton at a gig in a hotel lounge, playing swing for an almost empty room, but I thought of his resilience and that of the music we love.

For more details, please visit http://www.findingcarlton.com.  And here is the link to Susheel Kurien’s blog, https://bluerhythm.wordpress.com/

May your happiness increase.

Thanks NY TIMES – India Ink!

Thank you NY TIMES….India Ink !                                Click on Image for the article

We are most delighted that the voice of our film has been shared globally in this portrait of events and happenings at the United Nations on International Jazz Day!

Thank you for reporting that “Finding Carlton, ..had many moments that showcased how jazz bridged cultures and provided a common language of communication”.

….and since we did not aspire to slick filmmaking with budgets to match..forgive us our technical trespasses and lead us not into slick sanitized post-production..and yes, do deliver us from the evil wherein technical perfection overrides human warmth and the honesty of documentary film making.!

Link to the NY TImes article here  http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/in-search-of-kolkatas-lost-jazz-scene/

Thank you MediaGlobal

Media Global carried a review of the International Jazz Day Concert.

A truly amazing and once in lifetime event with leading jazz artists in configurations/combinations that may never be repeated.

They were kind enough to recognize Finding Carlton – Uncovering the Story of Jazz in India!

Click here for the concert review, or on the image at right  SAXOPHONES SOUND FROM THE UN 

SARAJEVO JAZZ FEST FINDS CARLTON !

We are distinctly honored to receive a review on the SARAJEVO JAZZ FEST website !. ….although, perplexed and quite baffled by how the film made it for review to Sarajevo without leaving New York…Jazz Pirates ? !! Well, that may not be a bad thing…Click on the image for their review