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Carlton Kitto, the city's most famous bebop jazz guitarist, passed away at his Alimuddin Street home on Monday morning. He was 76.
Carlton - survived by wife Margaret and three daughters Treasure, Blossom and Sapphire - had been suffering from respiratory problems. A holy mass will be held in the musician's memory at St. Mary's Church on Ripon Street at 2.30pm on Tuesday. It will be followed by a burial ceremony at the AJC Bose Road Cemetery at 3.30pm.
Born and brought up in Bangalore, Carlton grew up listening to Bing Crosby, Artie Shaw, Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman. He learned the jazz guitar by listening to his mother's 78rpm records of greats like Charlie Christian.
In Calcutta, Carlton began his musical journey at Moulin Rouge in the early Seventies. After performing for two years at the Park Street landmark, Carlton moved to Mocambo, where the late Pam Crain, the queen of crooners, had made her debut in the Sixties. He later joined the Calcutta School of Music, where he taught for 10 years.
"I'm trying to keep authentic jazz alive in the city," the maverick guitarist, who had featured in Susheel Kurien's documentary on the history of jazz in India called Finding Carlton, had once told The Telegraph.
The man was from an era when, according to drummer Nondon Bagchi, "old-school pros who played at the nightclubs around the year despite late nights, they were always on time - even early in fact. And always full of fun".
Sporting neatly-ironed shirts, tie and trousers, Carlton fronted The Carlton Kitto Jazz Ensemble, playing everything from Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie to Wes Montgomery.
"I started singing jazz because of Carlton. He was my first jazz mentor and made me fall in love with jazz," said vocalist Isheeta Chakrvarty, who was part of The Carlton Kitto Jazz Ensemble for five years.
"When I was forming a group in Calcutta in the 1970s and wanted to have the best jazz musician, my search culminated in getting the best jazz guitarist in Calcutta. Carlton joined me and enhanced the music of my band," said musician and jazz crusader Louiz Banks. "Carlton was an incredible musician with a vast repertoire of jazz standards in his head.... I really enjoyed my stint with him for many years in Blue Fox. I became a great admirer of his virtuosity and artistry... the music world has lost an amazing musician... may his soul rest in peace."
Speaking about the guitarist's Blue Fox days, Bagchi had once said: "Some of the greatest names in jazz who have passed through Calcutta and jammed at the Fox have left shaking their heads in wonder and disbelief at Carl's grasp, memory and musical vision."
According to Usha Uthup, Carlton was a "true guru" of the guitar. "I have known him for 47 years and done concerts with him at Kala Mandir and the Calcutta School of Music. His knowledge of music was so profound and vast. He taught so many people. I was in awe of him. He knew Tamil and I would speak to him in Tamil a lot," said the celebrated vocalist.
Guitarist Amyt Datta, who took many lessons from Carlton in the early 1980s, thinks he was a "legend" in the world of jazz guitar.
Guitarist Vikramjit 'Tuki' Banerjee recounted: "I got to catch him live in the mid-1980s at various gigs and I still cannot forget how astonishing his skills and musicality on the guitar were. If there was anyone flying the flag of the jazz guitar in Calcutta, it was Carlton Kitto. The magnitude of his grasp over jazz/bebop was amazing. The musical world has lost a real gem today."
The year The Oberoi Grand bid adieu to the storied Chowringhee Bar also saw the passing away of the man who played there for 11 years at a stretch. Before that he played at Grand's Scherezade, which had opened in the mid-50s.
I had heard Carlton Kitto live at.... Tellttmetro@abpmail.com