Legendary Louiz Banks is known for his extraordinary contribution to jazz and his pivotal role in shaping the genre in India. This year, the Mumbai Jazz Festival is proud to present to Louiz Banks, the Frank Dubier Lifetime Achievement Award 2024 on Saturday, December 7, 2024.
Excerpts from the interview:
You have been selected for the Frank Dubier award this year. How do you feel on receiving this honour?
What an honour to be receiving the Frank Dubier Lifetime Achievement award. What a super trumpet players and a multi instrumentalist he was. I cherish some of the sessions we had.
How would you describe Frank Dubier in your own words?
Frank was definitely one of the best (if not the best) trumpet player in India. He had a great tone and jazz technique which was absolutely world class.
Louiz Banks with Pam Crain |
In October this year, you held an exhibition ‘Art Meets Jazz’ a fusion of music and visual expression of your paintings on canvas and digitized format.
Art Meets Jazz exhibition revolves around my love for jazz and painting, one with sound and one without sound, each expression relating to an abstract canvas and a jazz composition. I felt a connection and the result was an abstract painting relationship to a jazz composition. The juxtaposition of different colours with
calculated strikes of the brush and sometimes a bare hand creating designs on the canvas was most exciting. Most of the time I paint to music and jazz music. It’s really fascinating.
How has the response been?
Inderjit, who was responsible for the exhibition, told me that he sold over seven paintings. He has over 30 paintings auctioned online. It’s a new idea that had never been done before and I believe we are the first to do this.
‘Explorations’ with Manu Trivedi and Jude D’souza of The Revolver Club |
Recently you released a remastered vinyl version of your iconic 1978 album ‘Explorations – Live in Calcutta’.
The Explorations album was recorded 40 years ago featuring stars like Braz Gonsalves and Pam Crain. With this re-release, it is getting a new lease of life through the fans of The Revolver Club. They love the album and they are hoping that I come up with a Volume Two, and seriously I will. I am already compiling some of my compositions for Volume Two. Braz (Gonsalves) has already agreed to play on it. I am looking for a singer comparable to Pam Crain, although there are a couple of excellent young singers around that might fit the bill. But I’m excited.
How special is this album to you?
Very very special. It’s my first album that became a vinyl master, pressed in Europe and released here. It features some of my favourite jazz musicians playing standards and my originals in a very different and special way. It was recorded live at Kalamandir, Calcutta when we were experimenting with a fusion of western and
Indian cultures in a very special and original way. And now avid listeners of jazz are enjoying this exciting magic of Indian and western fusion. Since then I have been exploring avenues of Indian and western fusion music and it has become my favourite style of jazz. This fusion music has taken me round the world regaling audiences all over and now the good news is that I will be coming out with ‘Explorations’ Volume two. I thank all the Jazz fans who have discovered this album and are simply loving the unique blend of Indian and western fusion. Wait for Exploration Volume two. It’s under production and it will be followed by a ‘live’ concert.
On Mumbai Piano Day this year, you released a book – ‘Song Etudes for Piano’. Can you tell us something about this book?
I have hundreds of compositions, all handwritten. Thanks to a friend Rahul Jhunjhunwala, we are digitizing all my music. I have plans to bring out a series of books for the younger generation to look at and maybe try and play these compositions. This book has 24 etudes for piano students. Mind you it’s classical and not jazz. I love classical music but I play my own original music which is mostly jazz oriented.
If you weren’t a jazz musician, what do you think you would have been?
If I wasn’t a musician and then a jazz musician, I would take up art seriously and paint canvases. It’s a tough profession for survival if you’re not lucky. I cannot see myself as a businessman, sitting at a desk and trying to sell my ideas and productions buy for less and sell for more. I’m very bad at that. I guess I’ve been lucky in life. I’m blessed with a great wife and loving and talented children.
As you look back on an illustrious career, what are the few challenges you have faced.
No challenges really, except trying to earn a living playing jazz and that too in India. I did my stints playing commercial music and earning a living to feed my wonderful family, but something was missing inside of me. I wanted to play jazz and there was no market for it, but I managed to make a success of my life, by cleverly combining jazz with commercial music and it worked. People danced to my special jazz. As they say “there’s always a solution”. My jazz fusion worked like magic and I became the most popular jazzman. What I believe very strongly is that you have to give out your best in anything that you do, work hard and God will reward you.
What are you presently working on at the moment?
Nothing decided, but I will plan in 2025.
Who is Frank Dubier:
Frank Dubier was one of India’s most iconic trumpeters, renowned for his remarkable contributions to jazz and unforgettable trumpet solos in Ilayaraja’s compositions. He also mastered the clarinet, flute, violin and saxophone. He also led the Frank Dubier Jazz Ensemble which was a 25-member band at one point in time. Dubier’s artistry left an indelible mark on the Indian Jazz world. Dubier passed away in Bangalore on 25th April 2017 at the age of 87.
In 2022, you came out with your memoir written by Ashis Ghatak. Any reason why you decided to let someone else write your life story?
Ashish Ghatak came up with the idea of my biography and I thought who else but he should be the one to write the biography. So we started the process and I gave him details about my life. It took a year, but Ashish compiled every detail in a book form. He sent me a rough copy for any corrections and then he completed the book. God Bless him.
