Chris Perry (born Christovam Pereira; 25 November 1928 − 25 January 2002), was an Indian musician, composer, songwriter, and film producer who combined jazz with Konkani music. He was known in India as the 'King of Cha Cha Cha' and the 'Man with the Golden Trumpet', and was the composer of the signature song of All India Radio.
Early life and career
Chris Perry was born Christovam Pereira in 1928 in Borda, the second of eight children born to Agostinho and Espiciosa Pereira.
Perry's family was musical and, at a young age, he entered the Tiatr (musical theater) scene, under the name 'Bab Pinto'. He began staging his own tiatrs; he is remembered locally for the plays Noxibantlo Nhovro, Padricho Lob, and Vid Mog Kornaranchem. He became a proficient musician, particularly on the trumpet and saxophone, known for having perfect pitch (Absolute pitch), and for his ability to switch from trumpet to saxophone mid-song. He was also a prolific songwriter, writing many of the hits of his time. Perry took the traditional Goan style of music and blended it with jazz.
Through the late '50s, Perry moved back and forth between Bombay and Calcutta (now Kolkata), and had his own band, the Chris Perry Band. Even after becoming well-established, Perry had to take part in the accepted practice of finding gigs. Every morning, Goan musicians gathered at the Calcutta restaurant Alfred's. The major bandleaders—Perry, Tony Cyril, Dennis Vaz, Johnny Rodriges, Johnny Baptista, Mike Machado, had their own tables. Anyone who was having an event that evening would come in and "order" musicians, e.g. 'one trumpet and one piano'. Each musician was paid 15 rupees; 18 if they wore white jackets with black trousers. Perry also occasionally played in a two-trumpet act at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel with the jazz star of the day, Chic Chocolate.
In the late 1950s, Bombay was an extremely cosmopolitan city, and people from all over the world had settled there. Western influences were flooding in and everything was becoming westernized—especially fashion and music. The best restaurants served Western food, and offered dance floors and jazz bands. At the pinnacle of these restaurants was La Bella, in Bombay's Fort District. Anyone who was anyone was there, the place was packed every night and, because alcohol was still strictly prohibited, the doors were closed to reporters. It is known, however, that the Chris Perry band got their foot in the Bombay door at La Bella (and, because Goa was still under Portuguese rule, they had to have special visas to work there).
By 1960, Perry and his band had a regular gig at Venice, the sophisticated nightclub in Bombay's Astoria Hotel. The Astoria is on Churchgate Street, the city's music and entertainment hub, and Venice was known as the 'jazz man's jazz club', a rendezvous for musicians from around India. Dave Brubeck played there in 1958, Duke Ellington in 1963.
Personal life
In 1960, at the Bandra Fair in Bombay, Perry saw a 16 year-old singer, Lorna Cordeiro, perform the song "Underneath the Mango Tree". She was so good, and the audience reception so great, that he offered her a place with his band. Cordeiro, who was also from Goa and who had been brought to Bombay by the musician Raymond Albuquerque after she won a Connie Francis sound-a-like contest, was still in school. But she accepted and Perry became her mentor.
Cordeiro, who was compared to Shirley Bassey and Bessie Smith, had a powerful Contralto and a natural feel for jazz. Perry rehearsed with her for six months before introducing her to audiences, and taught her how to dress, move on stage and use the microphone. She made her debut at the Lido Room in the elegant Firpo's Restaurant, Calcutta, singing Ella Fitzgerald's version of "Cry Me a River." The band then began touring—to Delhi, Mussoorie, Shimla, and Ooty, before settling in Bombay.
Perry was known as a genius, a perfectionist, and an obsessive. (According to his son, he slept with his trumpet and, every morning, before doing anything else, had a cigarette and blew the trumpet. His drummer, Diogo DeSouza, said: "Whoever joined his band ended up refining his craft. He could tell from a distance even if one small note went wrong on any instrument. He would meticulously write down the notes for each musician and he expected them to play it just the way he wanted." According to De Souza, Perry once gave a band member a black eye for playing a note incorrectly. It was a show night. He brought the musician an ice pack, and gave all band members dark glasses. It became their look for the evening. Perry was also a gambler, known for losing the band's wages at the racetrack.