In the 1950s, one of the hottest bands in Bombay operated out of a home on Bandra’s Chapel Road. It was led by a trumpet player named Pete D’Mello …
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There are many reasons to watch Chetan Anand’s 1966 film Aakhri Khat, especially if you’re a Bombay nostalgist. The film uses a hand-held camera to follow at 15-month-old toddler lost …
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Amchem Noxib, released in 1963, was only the second Konkani film ever made. It was produced by the formidable trumpet player Frank Fernand, who features prominently in Taj Mahal Foxtrot, …
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When the long-time Bombay band leader Ken Mac made this recording in 1942, his singer was Poona-born Beryl Templeman. She spent her early life in England, before returning to India …
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Last month, I wrote a note on this site about Mena Silas, the now-forgotten Baghdadi Jewish composer who wrote Taj Mahal, the foxtrot after which my book is named. A …
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This week’s archival track: the excellent saxophonist Braz Gonsalves and his group playing an original, noirish composition called Impulse. It was recorded in 1972. The generous Kingshuk Niyogi found it …