How does one write a personal ode to a musician one has never met, seen only twice in concert, not heard on a recording, who played at famous and forgotten venues in a city one has briefly visited only thrice?
Kolkata-based jazz guitarist Carlton Kitto, who passed away on November 28, deserves this special tribute. After recalling stories narrated by various musicians over the years, reading his life story in a few articles and watching a couple of documentaries, one could only say he was special.
Born in Bengaluru, he moved to Chennai to begin his musical career. That’s where he met and jammed with jazz legend Duke Ellington. And though he couldn’t afford to travel to the US, the American musician ensured that Kitto did a postal course from the Berklee College of Music.
From the 1930s, Calcutta (now Kolkata), had the most vibrant musical culture in India. From Bengali music directors who later shifted to make it big in Hindi cinema, to regional styles like Rabindra Sangeet, baul and bhatiyali to the famous Dover Lane classical music festival, the place oozed creativity.
The western music scene rocked, and Kitto shifted there in 1973. The venues Blue Fox, Mocambo, Moulin Rouge, Trincas, The Golden Slipper, Magnolia and Chowringhee Bar hosted other talented jazz musicians like keyboardist Louiz Banks, saxophonists Braz Gonsalves and ‘Jazzy Joe’ Pereira, pianist and xylophonist Anton Mendes, guitarist-keyboardist Charanjit Singh, bassist Lew Hilt, and singers Pam Crain, Brenda Lillie, Don Saigal and Marie Samson. Vocalists Usha Uthup (then Iyer) and Biddu ruled the popular music scene, and bands The Cavaliers, High, Skinny Alley, and Shillong-based Fentones attracted the younger lot.
Park Street was the place to be, and while it still retains its restaurants and nightlife today, it is ‘someplace else’ in terms of number of musical venues. By the mid-1970s, many musicians moved to Mumbai, and got involved in Hindi film music and ad jingles. Biddu moved to London to pursue pop and disco.
When the Jazz Yatra was launched in 1978, Mumbai soon took over as India’s jazz capital. Though greats like Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Dave Brubeck had visited earlier, the first edition of the festival attracted other maestros like saxophonist Sonny Rollins and trumpeter Clark Terry.
Despite this shift, Kitto decided to stay back in Kolkata. Inspired by the great guitarist Charlie Christian, he used techniques not many others knew of, blending swing and bebop. He also taught at the Calcutta School of Music and played with Rollins, Terry, guitarists Charlie Byrd and Larry Coryell, and saxophonists Chico Freeman and Dave Liebman.
Dressed very stylishly, often in a bow-tie and blazer, Kitto was known for his charming demeanour. Yet, he maintained a simple lifestyle at a small place on Kolkata’s Alimuddin Street, where he passed away at age 74 after a prolonged illness.
The tributes flowed. On Facebook, Banks described him as “one of India’s greatest guitarists, if not the best.” On WhatsApp, a forwarded message said three things made him continue to stay at that place: “Mother Teresa’s invisible presence at the Missionaries Of Charity located next door, its proximity to Park Street and the fact that he could catch a view of St. James Church.”
For Indian jazz, it’s the end of an era. And November has been a very sad month for music. While singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen passed away in the U.S., India has had other musical losses: Carnatic vocalist M. Balamuralikrishna, mridangam maestro Tiravarur R. Krishnamurthy, Hindustani classical vocalist Babanrao Haldankar, jazz trombonist and guitarist Anibal Castro, and guitarist Rajat Nandy.
They all represented another era, and their legacy continues.
Narendra Kusnur is a freelance music writer
