Where’s the jazz?

Luke Kenny shares his visits to the mid ‘90s Jazz Yatras, a monumental event that took place at the now defunct Rang Bhavan, says it used to be a sensational evening.

I remember going to the Jazz Yatras that used to happen right up till the mid ‘90s. It was a monumental event that took place at the now defunct Rang Bhavan and it used to be a sensational evening. It would be an evening of education, entertainment and musical extravaganza.

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Jazz may not be a genre of popular choice for most of the young kids out there today, but let me tell you that most of the popular music out there today has its roots in Jazz. The Mumbai Jazz scene has had its share of luminaries with Louis Banks being one of the most known. But in the past people like Braz Gonsalves, Maurice Consessio, Vivianne Pocha, Pam Crain and a few more whose names escape me, once upon a time, made Mumbai’s Jazz scene shine.

Jazz is not a difficult genre to get into, but a very difficult one to get out of. I am been lucky to have been exposed to it at a young age, thanks to my grandfather who, in his day, was one of Delhi’s killer Jazz drummers.



In his last decades when his health failed him, he would spend his time listening and trying to get the finer points into my young adolescent pop-music head. So I would hope that most musically oriented kids out there would discover the finer points in their own way and get into a Jazz zone…if I may say so.