A few months ago, I wrote here about the singer Myrtle Watkins, who performed at the Taj in Bombay during the winter of 1935. She had made her reputation as a jazz singer in Europe but then, in a transformation I couldn’t quite track in the archives, seems by the late 1930s to have started performing Latin American music under the name Paquita, along with her husband, the Mexican violinist Sam Zarate.
Between November 1941 and December 1942, Paquita and Zarate cut more than a dozen discs in India, backed by the African-American pianist Teddy Weatherford, like the one above, South American Way. The confusion about the performer’s identify arose when a discography published in the jazz magazine Storyville said that Paquita was actually the stage name for Myrtle Watkins. But I wasn’t able to find other evidence for this, and the photos I had of Paquita and Watkins (reproduced above) were too indistinct to be able to make a clear identification either way.
But recently, a generous reader – improbably, from Utah – sent me a photo of Paquita that matches perfectly with my grainy photo of Myrtle Watkins. “I have some wonderful photos and information that may help with the identification of Paquita & Zarate,” Angie Bourdos, who runs a gift shop in Salt Lake City said in a comment she left on the Foxtrot site. “I have posted and original signed photo from the 40s in Reno Nevada along with a collection of other original autographs, referring to Mother Airmet and Elliot Airmet from this duo.” Quite by coincidence, a few days later, a website that sells photos published a much clearer, autographed photo of Myrtle Watkins.
Angie found the photo in the collection of a man who ran a Greek restaurant called Cosmo’s in her hometown. She said that one of his friends would take risqué photographs of performers, which an artist named Jack “Dude” Larsen would paint in water colours to be hung in the restaurant. Larsen also touched up photos for other performers, singers and dancers and puppeteers. The Airmet family, to whom this photo of Paquita and Zarate is signed, had a group called the Airmet Marionettes.
“You should take a moment to look at the photos I have got,” she said. “They all go together in one big endless historical story! Salt Lake had more excitement back then compared to now! Ha.” Thanks, Angie, for proving conclusively that the African-American jazz singer named Myrtle Waktins did indeed later become a performer of Latin American standards in India. But now, we’re left with the puzzle of what exactly Paquita and Zarate were doing in Salt Lake City.
For what it’s worth, I’m also including a recording of South American Way by the Brazilian samba singer and Broadway star, Carmen Miranda, which has a much more pronounced samba beat. (Thanks to Heiko Mohn for the Paquita and Zarate recording.)
4 comments
I am completely blown away by this article which is possibly the answer to my puzzle. Samuel B. Zarate and Paquita moved to Depoe Bay, Oregon in 1959. Prior to that year, they had been living in Los Angeles, CA. Their agent booked them all over the west coast. One of their appearances was at Amato’s Supper Club in Portland, Oregon. From there, they performed at a Depoe Bay resort called “King Surf” in their Pagan Hut. After noticing property for sale just north of Depoe Bay, they purchased it and moved there in 1959. I lived in the Newport area and became Mr. Zarate’s piano accompanist in the early ’60’s and throughout his lifetime. They taught music to local students and also had an adjoining restaurant called “The Gingerbread House” where they served Mexican and Indian cuisine. Their local concerts included classical violin and viola in the first half and Songs from around the world in the second half when Paquita would join Sam on the drums and sing. It was our understanding that she was East Indian and he had been sent to Paris to continue violin studies by the Mexican government which is where they met. Paquita died in 1968. Sam continued with concerts dedicated to her until his death in 1993. I know more but am completely floored to learn that Paquita was Myrtle B. Watkins. I had been trying to solve the mystery of a wedding license issued to Samuel B. Zarate and Myrtle B. Watkins.
It would be lovely to view photograghs of Zarate and Paquita from the late `60s
This is just fabulous!
I was so happy to find this article as well and a proper home for the photograph. I just saw your replies today while showing my son a few photos of the Joseph Smith building Brigham Young University in Provo Utah that has Mr. Elliot Airmets name on the photographs. Some of the photos point up high with pride as to show how high the brick went up in a certain area of the building.
Maybe here in the winter I may find time to go through more of the photos , and recordings to see if there’s anything else that I can find. I think it’s fabulous being a Greek in Utah that Utah had such a wide variety of entertainers and seems as a fun food filled hub of the West with every race and religion. I absolutely just love it.
Thanks for the history behind Zarate and Paquita. I once stopped by the Oregon Coast chapel Sam built to honor Paquita and bought one of their Depoe Bay/Twenty Miracle Miles 45s. Must have been shortly before he passed away in the early 1990s. A very gracious man. The giant white bull outside the chapel along Highway 101 near Gleneden Beach was an iconic landmark. Had the opportunity to share the two tunes on the 45 on the Tom Morton Show on BBC Radio Scotland in about 1994.