MUMBAI: Think about Jazz in India, and one may not find a better synonym than the legendary jazz composer and instrumentalist- Louis Banks. Born in a Gorkha household- exactly 75 years ago- as Dambar Budaprithi, on the Himalayan foothills of Darjeeling, Banks started his musical journey at a very young age. Banks had to maintain the reputation the five generations before him managed to acquire in the realm of music, or jazz to be precise. However, that responsibility was not the reason why Banks picked up a trumpet or sat on a stool as his fingers hesitantly danced on the piano. As soon as his age turned into a double-digit, Banks was in love.
That love was jazz. The young Banks virtually dedicated most of his time learning and understanding what is believed to be a very complicated genre of music. With consistent support from his father- trumpeter and musician Pushkar Bahadur- Banks gradually shifted his focus from trumpet to piano, and the base from Darjeeling to Kathmandu, before finally finding comfort in Kolkata. “No music scene today comes close to Calcutta of the 70s,” Banks gladly reminds on why the era was truly golden. “Little cafes on every street that played jazz music. As a jazz musician, what more could you ask for? Money had always been the last thing in my mind.”
To say jazz music was unpopular or undiscovered before Banks hit the sophisticated clubs of Calcutta with his music would not be accurate. However, Banks ensured jazz traveled beyond these clubs and venues, and stretches out of its comfort zone and reach regions where jazz was never explored before. Banks could be credited for spearheading the jazz movement in India, and the fact that the virtuoso continues to steer the movement by adapting with the genre’s evolution puts him at the topmost position for the genre’s current status in the country. Did he expect the journey would be so long and the one that would end up making him a legend? “Certainly not”, said a jocular Banks. “I picked up my instrument only with the desire to play. Even the desire to perform came later. I never thought of achieving this status in music fraternity,” adds an extremely humble Banks who toured the entire country before he even turned 30, and in the meantime, also turned down R.D. Burman for a project.
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So what makes Banks a really unique and unparalleled personality in the world of jazz? His understanding and openness to other genres. Traditional jazz musicians often stick to the style and maintain the sound, and while some may disappear into unknown little cafes and restaurants, Banks chose to evolve. “I wanted to evolve with the genre. I always wanted to remain a step ahead of everyone else. It was not a competition, but an urge to learn more and more. That mentality helped open the doors to a new world, thanks to fusion. Reinvent yourself, that is my mantra,” adds Banks.
Not just a ‘performer’ of jazz music, Banks is, arguably, the best ambassador of the genre, too. Louiz was the sixth generation of the family involved into the music, and his grandson has already stepped into the family’s tradition. And Banks picks up the simplest, yet most effective, words to motivate the ones who have picked up a trumpet or sat on a stool with hands hesitantly dancing on the keys – “Follow your passion.”
Enjoy one of the technically most complicated and beautiful originals by Louiz Banks – Momentum.
