THE JAZZ ERA IN INDIA -- New DVD "Finding Carlton" Global Circulation of Jazz Conference , Paris June 28, 2013

 

“A great film to teach about global cultural flows and the

complex histories that underlie all cultures.”Tejaswini Ganti, Associate Professor of Anthropology, NYU

During the age when Jim Crow laws prevailed in America, many of jazz’s African American royalty were marginalized in the United States, while hailed as the epitome of high culture in other parts of the world.

India was one such place.

The original new documentary "Finding Carlton - Uncovering the Story of Jazz in India" (http://www.findingcarlton.com) rewrites our understanding of jazz history to explore the impact of African American jazz in South Asia and, for the first time, bring to life this remarkable example of early globalization.

 Built around a portrait of surviving Indian jazz guitarist Carlton Kitto, the film takes audiences on a richly atmospheric journey into India’s little-known jazz age that lasted from the 1920s to the 1970s.  What emerges is a mesmerizing document of a bygone era and the testimony of one of its last survivors. The film has already screened at the United Nations’ 2012 International Jazz Day and at universities and venues across the country and around the world. On June 28th , 2013, it will screen at an international conference sponsored by the  University of Paris  -" The Global Circulation of Jazz"- at the Musee de Quai Branley - Paris.

Says Dr. Larry Ridley, Professor Emeritus of Music at Rutgers University, “Finding Carlton” is so important because it fills-in a missing history of the African American jazz diaspora that simply has never been taught before, and therefore should be a “standard for inclusion in [all] …curriculums.”

Today’s students lack an understanding of the cosmopolitanism of the past, adds Professor Ganti of New York University.  “Finding Carlton” is so important because it breaks down stereotypical ideas students have about both India and jazz.  It disrupts a lot of their neat categories and shows how people have interacted in different parts of the world.

They say that in every musician there is a story and in the story of one musician, there are the stories of many.

"Finding Carlton - Uncovering the Story of Jazz in India" is that story, a lovingly crafted new HD documentary that reveals a heritage and a world.  

********************************
 SUBJECT AREAS:
The history of jazz, musicology, the African American diaspora in music
Anthropology & Globalization
South Asian Studies
African American Studies You can watch the trailer here: http://www.findingcarlton.com/trailer/. The director Susheel Kurien is also available for on-campus presentations and screenings.