Meet Mumbai’s devoted jazz enthusiasts

Upon landing outside Ashok Gulati’s Bandra residence, one can hear musical notes from saxophones and trumpets ricocheting off the walls as Billie Holiday sings Love Will Make You Do Things. One of the founders of Capital Jazz, Gulati also meets other jazz enthusiasts once a month to go over old and new memories. The group consists of 10 core members and other fringe members who are also connected through an email group.

Describing on what happens during the monthly meetings, Gulati said: “We exchange CDs, LPs, rare videos and have discussions over our favourite jazz songs, musicians and the good old days. Back then, Mumbai hosted many international jazz festivals where we had Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Max Roach and other world greats participate in the ‘Jazz Yatra’.

A retired electronic engineer, 67-year-old Gulati became a member of the Jazz India Association in 1978 which had its last jazz festival in 2004. The group members then formulated another group called Capital Jazz that exists in Mumbai and Delhi, and had the last Jazz Utsav in 2012.

Considered as the person who has kept jazz alive in the city, Gulati, then a 13-year-old, got hooked to the genre when his uncle brought a music system and jazz LPs in the 1960s. His interest took a leap after Jazz India and he never looked back. “Our present group is an informal one, which has existed since the 1950s. Only 2 members from that time are still here, whereas all of us got together around 5 years ago,” he said.

As for the members, the eldest is 83 years old, and youngest, 55. They rue that youngsters don’t like their company. Sunil Sampath is not just another member. The 72-year-old used to be on the advisory board of NCPA to promote jazz and formed a group called Jazz Addicts which held festivals till 2012.

Gulati said that Sampat has the biggest collection of jazz music in India with around 10,000 LPs and CDs. “I was 10 years old and residing in Nagpur. My mother used to be a singer on the radio then. Those days, a single LP cost 25 paise and I used to save whatever I could, go to the shop where one could sit listening to music, and buy if one liked it. One day, a man was playing jazz in the store and I asked him what music it was, since I really liked it,” said Sampat, who is a contributing editor for the Rolling Stone.

The most recent member, Gordon Rodricks joined a year ago. Listening to jazz since his college days, the 77-year-old came across the group in Pune, thanks to his friend. “The group has some iconic members, and I have learned a lot over the year from them. Sometimes, the discussions become so academic that you feel dizzy with all the information. The intellectual level of the group is satisfying as we don’t indulge in gossip. Many of the members’ wives also take great interest in the meets, so there’s good food, entertainment and revelry,” said the retired marketing profesional.