The curious story of how jazz music arrived in India begins with the racial persecution that the early African-American proponents of the genre faced in the southern USA in early 20th century. They fled to Europe hoping to find a more congenial environment, only for World War II to start looming on the horizon. Some of them set sail again, landing in Bombay, where they were elated to be greeted by both the British and the Indians. They started playing their trade-in nightclubs in SoBo, especially Churchgate Street (today’s Veer Nariman Road) that became a jazz hub.

There was a resurgence of sorts, with jazz musicians regularly playing gigs before the pandemic hit. The independent music circuit has a bunch of bright sparks and on International Jazz Day, three veterans pick the brightest, and share three tracks that you should press play for.