The godfather of Indian Jazz has fond memories of teaching. Having spent over half a century as a musician — performing in smoky Kolkata pubs and glittering international stages, composing with Bollywood’s best and Indian advertising’s most creative — Louiz Banks has much to look back at, at the age of 81. His gaze is set forward, however, his most recent initiative brings back simpler memories of “good old Darjeeling”.
“My earliest memory of teaching music is to a group of students in good old Darjeeling,” says the iconic Mumbai-based composer. He recalls: “After I graduated from St Joseph’s College, I decided to pursue BT: Bachelor of Teaching. With a BA BT under my belt I did precisely three years of teaching music theory and practice. I have vague memories of that phase in my life, but I had fun. I have met some of these boys after a span of many years; they still remember those days with me as their teacher very fondly.”
Those memories belong to the early-career avatar of Banks, a man with a lifetime of achievements, awards and prolific compositions still waiting ahead of him. Today, his repertoire is wide: he has co-created, with the likes of Pt Bhimsen Joshi, iconic tunes like ‘Freedom Run’ and ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ — songs synonymous with the early emotions of a young, 40-year-old India still finding its feet, songs that are still being reprised today. He has composed over 1,000 ad jingles, including the classic Dairy Milk ‘ asli swad zindagi ka’ tune. He has lent his talent to numerous tunes of RD Burman, who famously invited him to Bollywood after hearing his jazz performance in Kolkata’s Blue Fox Restaurant in the late 1960s.
