One afternoon at Trincas, surrounded by sepia memories and a stack of old Christmas advertorials from the 1960s, third-generation owner Anand Puri found himself staring at a name he didn’t recognise.
The card promised morning coffee sessions, tea dances and an entire season of music by Chris Perry featuring Molly. “I looked at it and thought, who is Chris Perry and how have I never heard of him? We all know Usha Uthup, we know Bindu Appaiah, but this name felt like a mystery,” Anand recalled.
The Christmas advert of Trincas from 1960s
That mystery took him to Goa. There, in the heart of Margao, he discovered that Chris Perry was no ordinary bandleader. “I found out he is called the ‘baap of Konkani music’. What he did was take Konkani folk songs and add jazz and western influences. You have to listen to ‘Lorna’, especially the album ‘Chris Perry Presents Lorna’. It is fantastic,” Anand said.
Born Xavier Pereira, Perry was a prodigious musician with perfect pitch who moved between Bombay and Calcutta in the ’50s and ’60s, leading the Chris Perry Band. He played trumpet and saxophone, wrote his own music and shaped the sound of Konkani stage and song. Clubs like La Bella in Bombay and the Venice at the Astoria Hotel saw his rise, but a little-known chapter of his journey unfolded right here on Calcutta’s Park Street.
Trincas’ 1960 Christmas programme placed him front and centre. It promised festive dinners, cakes, holiday fancies and each evening, Chris Perry with Molly, the charismatic singer, celebrated in Goa for her retro style. “Imagine Park Street in the swinging ’60s. Dance floors full, the band playing Goan jazz, people celebrating Christmas in the most stylish way. His music feels like a party. It really feels like Christmas,” Anand explained.
‘Chris Perry’s music feels like a party. It really feels like Christmas,' said Anand Puri Soumyajit Dey
Perry’s life was as dramatic as his music. He discovered Lorna Cordeiro when she was a teenager and mentored her into one of India’s most powerful voices. His compositions blended Goan folk and jazz in ways that shaped generations. His songs later travelled into films and his career touched stars from Asha Bhonsle to Usha Uthup.
For Trincas, the rediscovery of Perry is a reminder of its place in India’s musical history. “How many legends do you know that are associated with this place? Chris Perry is one more name to add. And now that I know his story, it makes this Christmas feel even more special,” Anand said.