“Arthur Gracias and his love of music is another stepping stone in the quest to build bridges between nations, cultures and people”.
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Music Critic – The Statesman
“Gracias whose playing is tinged with Indian Classical influences. It is this spirit of creating innovative music that must live on if any special branch of Jazz is to emerge”.
Music Critic – Business Standard. India
“Gracias has revived the field of Indo-Jazz fusion in India and has shown that this era of music is still wide open to endless speculation and experiment.”
The Telegraph
“I have concentrated on Indojazz and my latest album NIGHT RAGA, about spreading the message of peace, love and joy has been very well accepted Internationally leading to invites to perform in Chicago, Missouri and Toronto next year.”
The West Australian
“Not many musicians can claim to have invented a new genre, Arthur Gracias has not only done that, he has created his own instrument to play it on.”
Indojazz – Brotherhood
Arthur Gracias
Indojazz moments – Herbie Hancock and Arthur Gracias
Renowned jazz pianist Herbie Hancock in the company of Arthur Gracias in 1980, Culcutta, India. Herbie was on his way to play for the King of Thailand.
Currently Herbie Hancock is the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in support of International Jazz Day which is held on the 30th April each year.
“International Jazz Day is a means to highlight, support, and leverage the unifying attributes of music through worldwide celebratory events and activities on 30th April each year,” said Herbie Hancock. “On International Jazz Day, jazz is celebrated, studied, and performed around the world for 24 hours straight. Collaborations abound among jazz icons, scholars, composers, musicians, dancers, writers, and thinkers who embrace the beauty, spirit, and principles of jazz, freely sharing experiences and performances in our big cities and in our small towns, all across our seven continents.”
“Jazz has been the voice of freedom for so many countries over the past half century .”
More information about Herbie Hancock, and International Jazz Day can be found here:
UNESCO website – International Jazz Day Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock
From Perth, Via Culcutta – Guitar Jazz and Archival Photos
Finding Carlton, Uncovering the story of Jazz in India
http://bluerhythm.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/from-perth-via-calcutta-guitar-jazz-and-archival-photos/
Original Article
With permission from Arthur Gracias, a pioneering and respected Calcutta jazzman, now settled in Perth..Arthur was one of the earliest jazz musicians in India to seriously study Indian Classical music.. he was ahead of his time..Arthur left Calcutta for Perth about seven years ago. He currently performs and teaches in Australia.
FROM ARTHUR:
“I have attached a few photographs of the 60′s performing at the Grand Hotel( Scherazade)
left standing is Lenny D’souza (drums) Michael Dias, Alto Sax and Clarinet,Hector Cranenburg, Double Bass, Arthur Gracias, Guitar, Felix Torcato, Piano. we used to play Bebop,Swing etc. (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Wes Montgomery, Ramsey Lewis etc.)
(2) performance at Prince’s (Grand Hotel) .Sonny Lobo (piano)Rubin Robeiro (jazz vocalist) Jimmy Sam’s (Trumpet/violin) Michael Dias, (Tenor/Alto Saxes/Clarinet/violin) Bostio Fernandes, Bouble Bass, (sitting left) Lester Rozario,( Drums) Arthur Gracias, Guitar. Custod Silveira, Tenor/Alto saxes/clarinet/violin. During the period we used to perform big band jazz such as Duke Ellington, Count basie, etc.at night and Classical music for the lunch sessions everyday, Sonny used to import the orchestrations from the Uk.and USA.
Charlie Smith ’65 etc { Who was Charlie Smith ?, does anyone know ? }
In 1972 I performed the first Indo jazz concert with the Great Tabla player Ustad Nanku Maharaj,Dulal Lahiri, Indian classical Violin and myself Guitar, at Rabindra Sadan.”
Music Mania
The Telegraph
Culcutta, India
It was yesterday once more at Ho Chi Minh Sarani last week. And the blast from the past came in the form of Arthur Gracias. The Indo-jazz composer, guitarist and pianist was in Calcutta to take part in an evening of fusion music blending the East and the West at the Satyajit Ray Auditorium. Old-timers will remember Gracias as a part of the pantheon of rock, jazz and blues artistes that included Joe Pereira, Pam Crain, Louis Banks and Usha Uthup and rocked the city in the 60s and the 70s. Gracias, now based in Australia, also composed music for such critically acclaimed films as Gudia and Dekha. “Gracias performed at a proper concert in Calcutta after 15 long years. Our idea was to bring back Park Street as it was in the days of yore,” says Santanu Ghosh, who organised the concert along with filmmaker Goutam Ghose. Incidentally, Ghose’s son Ishaan, a percussionist, also made his musical debut at the concert. Clearly, age was no bar in the nostalgia fest.