Swinging Across Borders: Jazz, India and the Cold War

– Vivek N. D.

In the midst of Cold War tensions, when diplomacy often took the form of strategic military alliances and economic aid, a more soulful ambassador took centre stage: jazz. This quintessentially American art form, born out of struggle and improvisation, found itself crossing borders, not with treaties and guns but with melodies. Between the United States and India, jazz became more than just music; it became a bridge—one that carried ideas of freedom, dialogue and creativity in both directions.

Setting the Stage: Jazz Meets India

As the US sought allies in a world divided between democracy and communism, India stood as a critical player in the Non-Aligned Movement. For the American State Department, jazz presented an unorthodox yet powerful instrument of diplomacy. Starting in 1956, the U.S. State Department sponsored Jazz Ambassadors to Africa, Latin America, the Near East, the Middle East and Asia. Jazz’s roots in African American struggles for equality and its improvisational spirit symbolised the democratic ideals the US hoped to promote. The State Department-led programme promoted jazz as a symbol of American culture and racial harmony, carefully selecting artists based on musicianship, patriotism and band diversity. “America’s public image in the developing world needed a little spit and polish — and so the US decided to send artists around the world to demonstrate that Americans were open and fun, superior to namby-pamby ballet,” explains Naresh Fernandes, author of Taj Mahal Foxtrot: The Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age (2017).

India, freshly post-colonial and exploring its cultural identity, found in jazz a compelling resonance. The music’s ethos of freedom and individuality mirrored the country’s own narrative of liberation and self-expression. It wasn’t long before the first jazz ambassadors—giants like Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, and their troupe of musicians—arrived on Indian shores, carrying their trumpets, saxophones, drums and pianos as tools of dialogue.

Dizzy Gillespie: A Sonic Pioneer

In 1956, Dizzy Gillespie brought his bebop brilliance to India and Pakistan among other countries in the Third World captivating audiences with his performances. Gillespie and a group of some 20 people—in Gillespie’s words, “an American assortment of blacks, whites, males, females, Jews, and Gentiles”, were sent on tour. The U.S. government wanted to send a signal that bigotry was waning at home, and, again in Gillespie’s words, “They [foreign audiences] could see it wasn’t as intense because we had white boys and I was the leader of the band. That was strange to them because they’d heard about blacks being lynched and burned, and here I come with half whites and blacks and a girl playing in the band. And everybody seemed to be getting along fine. So I didn’t try to hide anything. I said ‘Yeah…we have our problems but we’re still working on it. I’m the leader of this band, and those white guys are working for me.’ That’s a helluva thing.”

But it was more than leading a band and playing notes. In jam sessions with local musicians, Gillespie blended the improvisational energy of jazz with the intricate rhythms of Indian ragas. It was a meeting of two musical worlds that spoke the same language of creativity. Gillespie embraced the local music, leading to Rio Pakistan (1958), one of the first numbers to introduce a raga improvisation in American jazz, blending his trumpet with Stuff Smith’s violin.

These collaborations weren’t just symbolic; they sparked something profound. Gillespie left South Asia with his bebop enriched by the improvisational techniques of Indian classical music. South Asian musicians, especially in Pakistan, in turn, began experimenting with jazz’s fluidity, setting the stage for a cultural dialogue that would reverberate for decades.

Brubeck and the Rhythms of “Take Five”

In 1958, the Dave Brubeck Quartet toured India, landing in Bombay, where Brubeck’s warped piano led him to a local store and a jam session with sitarist Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffar Khan.

In Madras, the Brubeck Quartet met mridangam maestro Pazhani Subramania Pillai (PSP), known for his rhythmic mastery and elegant presence. PSP gave Joe Morello a masterclass in Carnatic tala patterns, inspiring him to adapt mridangam techniques to his drum set using his fingers instead of sticks.

A couple of days later, All India Radio (AIR) broadcasted their jam session on Voice of America, with the legendary Willis Conover introducing the mridangam and jazz drum set. One diary entry by Paul Desmond, the Quartet’s saxophonist, from his days in Madras reads, “Another session with Indian musicians at All India Radio – pretty much a mutual admiration society for rhythm men. Joe impressed by hand technique, odd meters.”  

The music journalist Philip Clark wrote, “The two percussionists set a ferocious tempo, Morello answering Subramania Pillai’s percussive jabs and scrapes by firing rhythms back, his sticks ricocheting against the wooden rims of his drums. Having already learned the significance of 2+2+2+3 for the Turkish psyche, Brubeck wanted to test how compatible the blues and Indian music could be, and the improvisation soon turned into a blues. The opening of his solo was drowned out on the recording by Morello and Subramania Pillai’s sweet thunder, but Brubeck’s piano suddenly zoomed into focus and his light-touch, spidery lines steamrolled toward orotund block chords”.

Released in 1959 and initially overlooked, Take Five—featuring Morello’s refined 5/4 groove—unexpectedly soared up the charts, turning into a breakout hit. The album’s success encouraged the Brubeck Quartet to further experiment with unconventional time signatures.

Another origin story behind Take Five can be traced back to Leslie Godinho, a Goan drummer, who introduced the conga to Bollywood music in the song ‘Sar jo tera chakraye ya dil dooba jaaye’. Louiz Banks recalls, “Take Five was the outcome of Leslie’s few drum lessons to Joe Morello on odd time signatures and Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck got the idea for a tune in 5/4 .. the result was TAKE FIVE and the rest is history… and various other jazz groups ventured into the domain of odd time signatures.. but nothing can take away the popularity of 4/4 and 3/4 …these rhythms are very singable and danceable… the whole history of jazz standards, broadway songs, popular music stands firmly on the strong pillars of 4/4 and 3/4 … but inventive jazz musicians have delved into odd time signatures like 5/8,7/8,9/8,11/4,13/4, etc and made it work for jazz interpretation…. In many ways apart from other cultures India is the land for odd time rhythms… it’s quite natural for musicians to play a tune in 11/4, 13/4, 9/8, … the favourites being 7/4,7/8 and 5/8…..BUT OF COURSE, YOU CANNOT JIVE TO THIS MUSIC !! But Indian dancers are quite comfortable with these odd time rhythms …..”

After returning from the tour, Brubeck recorded Jazz Impressions of Eurasia, featuring “Calcutta Blues,” one of the first jazz pieces to blend Indian melodic and rhythmic elements.

Duke Ellington: Elegance Meets Tradition

In 1963, Duke Ellington brought his sophisticated orchestral jazz to India. Prior to his departure to India via West Asia, he predicted how the visit would impact his music, “With this much beauty in India—the music, the scenery, the colors, the people—there is bound to be some effect on my music, but I cannot tell now exactly what it will be…I prefer to absorb everything, to drink it all in, and then to have it come back to me naturally. I want it to be an external process; I want it to be reflection and not refraction”.

Interactions with West Asian as well as Indian musicians during the tour, including the tabalchi, Pandit Chatur Lal, led to the 1967 album Far East Suite. In the opening movement, “Tourist Point of View,” baritone saxophonist Henry Carnell plays a diminished scale ‘snake charmer’ motif, a stereotypical musical signifier of the ‘mysterious’ East. In another movement, “Bluebird of Delhi (Mynah),” a brass instrument briefly mimics the drone of a tanpura, before changing pitches. The concept album also dedicated one movement to Agra. Such inspirations aside, the 1963 tour was cut short while the orchestra was performing in Turkey, by the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22.

Ellington’s engagement with Indian musicians sparked admiration on both sides. The duo, Shankar-Jaikishan in collaboration with the sitar player, Ustad Rais Khan of the Kirana gharana, released Raga, Jazz Style in 1968, blending Hindustani classical music with Bollywood flourishes and jazzy motifs inspired by Duke Ellington’s orchestration. Leslie Godinho’s restrained drums and the soulful meanderings of Manohari Singh (R.D. Burman’s music arranger) on saxophone interspersed with fiery solos on the sitar showcase an early fusion of ragas with jazz.  

During the tour, an eighteen year old Amjad Ali Khan played sarod with the orchestra. Further, Ellington’s fascination with Indian classical music’s rhythmic complexity and emotional depth found expression in his performances. Indian audiences, captivated by the grandeur of his arrangements, saw in Ellington a bridge between the precision of Western orchestras and the improvisational soul of their own musical heritage. As the Indian Express reported, “Duke Ellington’s Orchestra played the poetry of jazz. We lost our hearts.”

Armstrong’s India: Jazz for the Masses

Perhaps no jazz artist made as deep an impact on India as Louis Armstrong. When “Satchmo” toured in 1964, he didn’t just perform—he electrified. Massive crowds gathered to witness his iconic trumpet playing and his unmatched stage charisma. Armstrong’s ability to connect with audiences transcended language and culture. He arrived in India to a warm welcome, with HMV Records placing a grand “Welcome Satchmo” ad in The Times of India. Despite the Pope’s concurrent visit, Armstrong, already popular through films and his hit Hello Dolly, drew packed audiences across the country.

Louis Armstrong’s 1964 India tour introduced New Orleans jazz to Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta, inspiring musicians like Anthony Gonsalves (later to be immortalised in the song “My Name is Anthony Gonsalves” from the movie Amar Akbar Anthony) and Chic Chocolate to blend jazz with Indian classical music, paving the way for Indo-jazz fusion. His visit sparked a jazz revival in clubs like Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Hotel and influenced numerous Bollywood film scores.

A Legacy of Exchange

These tours were not one-sided. American jazz musicians carried home Indian influences that reshaped their work, while Indian musicians integrated jazz into their local scenes. Bombay became a hub of this fusion, with figures like Leslie Godinho and Chic Chocolate leading the charge. Chic, often called “India’s Louis Armstrong,” blended jazz with Goan traditions, carving out a distinctly Indian jazz identity.

By the 1970s, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson added another layer to this narrative, delivering a powerful rendition of “We Shall Overcome” in New Delhi. Her performance, attended by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, underscored the shared struggles and aspirations of two democracies.

The jazz tours of the Cold War era were more than just cultural showcases; they were reciprocal exchanges that reshaped both American and Indian musical landscapes. What began as a diplomatic effort to promote American ideals evolved into a dynamic fusion of jazz and Indian classical music, paving the way for Indo-jazz experimentation. Artists like Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong left India enriched by its rhythmic complexities, while Indian musicians embraced jazz’s improvisational freedom in clubs and Bollywood scores. The tours cultivated a cross-cultural dialogue that transcended politics, reinforcing jazz as a universal language of freedom, creativity and connection. Today, Indo-jazz fusion stands as a testament to the power of music to bridge traditions, inspire innovation and foster enduring artistic legacies.

Vivek is a writer based in Bangalore and founder of the Nenmi9 Fellowship.

PS: If reading that piece has put you in the mood to explore some Hindi film songs with jazz influence, we have that covered for you already! Here’s our playlist covering jazz-based Bollywood songs from across ages – available on Apple Music and Spotify!

Related