Symphony of Passion

What a seven-decade-old diary revealed

about a group of Goan musicians

Melvyn Savio Misquita

2022
Symphony of Passion: What a seven-decade-old diary revealed about a group of Goan
musicians
© 2022 Melvyn Savio Misquita

misquita@outlook.com
melvyn@misquita.net
+91 9860597117 (calls, messages)
+91 8275597117 (calls only)

First edition published in 2022 by

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All photographs have been sourced from those mentioned, and have been duly acknowl-
edged as far as possible. While all efforts have been made to ascertain the veracity of the
facts mentioned in this book, any inadvertent errors, oversights or inaccuracies may be
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4

Ode to the Symphony Players

You loved your music,
Instruments and your art.
You valued bandmates,
Always close to your heart.

You practised long and hard,

To get your music just right.
You enthralled audiences,
At shows, either day or night.

Not all were icons or stars,

Not all were to rise to fame.
Some of you passed away young,
Never destined to earn a name.

And as time passed by,

Memories began to fade.
Most of you were forgotten,
Even the music you played.

A diary, music sheets and photos,

Brought your story back to light.
With families, friends to join hands,
A fascinating tale was in sight.

Your story is now being told,

With love and compassion.
A tribute to you musicians,
It is your Symphony of Passion.

–MSM
SESSION 1: THE REHEARSAL
A glimpse of the Symphony
Page 08

SESSION 2: THE TRIBUTE

Dedicated to the musicians and their families
Page 09
SESSION 3: THE PRELUDE
The Foreword to the Symphony
Page 12
SESSION 4: THE STUDIO
The backdrop of a house in Margão
Page 24
SESSION 5: THE FUSION
Families, friends unite for a cause
Page 26
SESSION 6: THE QUARTET
Four friends from Margão play music in 1950-51
Page 48
SESSION 7: THE QUINTET
A fifth musician joins the band, but has a brief stint
Page 51
SESSION 8: THE ‘JOE BLUES’
A band is formed in tribute to a departed friend
Page 57
6

SESSION 9: THE ‘MUSIC LOVERS’

The band gets a new name
Page 66

SESSION 10: THE ENSEMBLE

Musicians who played in the band
Page 77

SESSION 11: THE REPERTOIRE

Various songs performed by the band
Page 87

SESSION 12: THE MUSIC SHEETS

Details of handwritten music sheets of the band
Page 89

SESSION 13: THE CONCERTS

Musicians involved in four concerts
Page 93

SESSION 14: THE INTERMISSION

The band goes offstage, forms a sports team
Page 99

SESSION 15: THE COLLECTION

A music club and collections by a bandmate
Page 101

SESSION 16: THE BACKSTAGE

The lives, music of many members in the band
Page 104

SESSION 17: THE CODA

The difficulties, struggles of these musicians
Page 147
 7

SESSION 18: THE GALLERY

Photos, news cuttings, music sheets, memorabilia
Page 153
SESSION 19: THE STAGE
The 137 shows performed by ‘Music Lovers’
Page 207
SESSION 20: THE APPLAUSE
Acknowledgements
Page 211
SESSION 21: THE CITATIONS
References and Sources
Page 215
SESSION 22: THE REVUE
Reviews, comments on the Symphony
Page 216
 DID YOU KNOW?
à A band was set up in 1953 in memory of a music
genius
à After 31 shows, the band changed its name nine
months later
à At least three dozen musicians performed with these
bands
à A music legend and his brother also participated at
some of these shows
à The band even set up a volleyball team, which won
two tournaments
à At least four members in the band died between the
ages of 26 and 46
à A member went on to serve in a senior government
position at Macau
à A member set up the ‘Friends of Music USA’ Goa
Chapter for jazz in 1964
à A member became a freedom fighter, another
member pioneered Khell Tiatr
à A member had at least 54 other relatives involved in
music across five generations
à Two musicians played together between 1984 and
2010, unaware their fathers were bandmates during
the 1950s
à A seven-decade-old diary of the band, hundreds of
music sheets and other music memorabilia have been
preserved at a house in Margão
P EDRO Santana Fernandes, a musician from Assolna, mu-
st have been happy to receive a letter from his Margão-
based band leader, Alvito da Costa, intimating him of a show
in Majorda on 14 May 1955.
After all, shows were not that frequent, income may not
have been that high and every show added to his earnings
and livelihood, a profession fine-tuned after years of prac-
tice and hard work, to sustain his family.
Pedro Santana was not alone in this situation. It was a
time when most musicians in Goa were unsung members
in society, relying on their expertise and their instruments
to ensure that they were good enough to be invited to per-
form at the next show. But the long and arduous hours to
perfect their skills did not deter them from pursuing a mis-
sion, their passion for music.
This music project is a tribute to the mission and passion
of a group of Goan musicians, most of whom have remain-
ed unsung and largely forgotten for seven decades. This
project is dedicated to the following musicians, who were
part of the band at some point in time between 1953 and
1963, and their respective families:
1. BAND LEADER: Alvito da Costa of Borda-Margão
(arranger, composer, saxophone, guitar, violin and
vocals)
2. BAND MANAGER: Ronaldo Coutinho of
Borda-Margão (guitar and vocals)
10

3. BAND SECRETARY: José Gracias of Borda-Margão

(guitar and vocals)
4. TENOR MAN: Pascoal Antonio Fernandes of
Pedda-Benaulim (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone,
clarinet)
5. LEAD ALTO: Saby Dias (alto saxophone, tenor
saxophone, violin)
6. ALTO MAN: Custodio Inacio Cardozo of Rachol (alto
saxophone, clarinet, violin)
7. TENOR MAN: Sebastião Batista (tenor saxophone,
violin)
8. HORN MAN: Luis C Batista of Pedda-Benaulim
(arranger, trumpet, violin)
9. HORN MAN: Antonio Moraes of Benaulim (trumpet)
10. DRUMMER: Andre Fernandes of Maddel-Margão
(drums, trumpet)
11. DRUMMER: Damaso Gomes of Navelim (drums)
12. BASS: Sabino Fernandes (bass, trumpet)
13. BASS: Piedade Santana Fernandes (bass, French horn)
14. TRUMPET: Cipriano Dourado of Utorda (violin,
trumpet)
15. TROMBONE: Lawrence Luis of Shiroda (trombone,
violin, arranger, composer)
16. ALTO MAN: Pedro Santana Fernandes of Assolna (alto
saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinet)
17. ALTO MAN: Cajetan Vas of Ilha de Rachol (alto
saxophone, clarinet)
18. ALTO MAN: Paul Perry of Povoação-Margão (alto sax,
vocals, arranger)
19. HORN MAN: Chris Perry of Povoação-Margão
(trumpet, saxophone, drums, arranger, composer)
 11

20. TENOR MAN: Tony D’Cruz (saxophone)

21. ALTO MAN: S Fernandes (saxophone)
22. DRUMMER: Andre Santiago of Unjirim-Curtorim
(drums)
23. TENOR MAN: Salema (saxophone)
24. HORN MAN: Teotonio Fernandes (trumpet)
25. TENOR MAN: Tony Rodrigues (saxophone, violin,
vocals, arranger, composer)
26. HORN MAN: Remigio Fernandes (trumpet, drums)
27. TENOR MAN: Sebastião da Veiga of Maina-Curtorim
(saxophone, violin)
28. ALTO MAN: Marcelino Fernandes (saxophone)
29. ALTO MAN: Casmiro Lobo of Ambora (saxophone)
30. TENOR MAN: Peter Lobo of Ambora (saxophone)
31. HORN MAN: Saby (trumpet)
32. ALTO MAN: John Rodrigues (saxophone)
33. GUEST ARTISTE: Gustavo da Costa (accordion,
guitar)
34. GUEST ARTISTE: Anacleto Figueiredo of Margão
(guitar, violin, cello, bass)
35. GUEST ARTISTE: Damask (Damaso) Braganza of
Majorda (arranger, trumpet, violin, piano)
36. GUEST ARTISTE: Ignatius Fernandes of Benaulim
(trumpet, band leader)
37. GUEST ARTISTE: Camilo Vas of Rachol (saxophone,
clarinet)
W HEN my friend, journo Melvyn Misquita of Aldona,
asked me to write a Foreword to this book, my im-
mediate reaction was that a ‘senior’ should do it. (I felt, of
course, flattered and honoured – for being asked, not for
being regarded an old man!)
Seniority counts. It adds grace and wisdom to a book.
A senior of stature, well acquainted with the subject, adds
value to a book. There were several Goans who would fit the
bill and write this Foreword until a couple of decades ago.
Unfortunately, most have departed from our midst and the
very few surviving are well into their nineties. I accepted
the author’s request to write a Foreword, my first, primarily
because of an unlikely reason: the chance accident of my
birth in a rare locality.
I was privileged to be born in an area where, within a
300-metres radius, were born and bred four Konkani stage,
film and music greats, a leading bandmaster who mobilised
hundreds of musicians to play for royal weddings in North
and Central India, besides all the founders of the ensem-
ble that forms the subject of this book. But before that, a
little about what Melvyn Misquita has done, which lies hid-
den between the pages of what you presently hold in your
hands.

***
 13

I went through the text of Symphony of Passion. And I

was honestly left in amazement and admiration that a man
from Aldona, married in Margão, had recognised the value
of a simple treasure but of immense historical importance
that his father-in-law had saved for posterity. The father-
in-law, José Gracias, had done his bit. He had carefully pre-
served the records of a Margão band that was active and
grew around the middle of the last century. The simple trea-
sure left behind by José Gracias might have remained co-
matose until thy kingdom come. Fortunately, a journalist
son-in-law stumbled across it.
In the true traditions of investigative journalism, Melvyn
not just instantly recognised the value of that treasure —
which included a diary containing details of a group of mu-
sicians and their shows, dozens of photos and newspaper
cuttings, as well as a trunk full with hundreds of music score
sheets, documents and other memorabilia – but took pains
to scan and document a large part of it and delve into its de-
tails, patiently pursuing leads as a snoopy scribe is trained
to do, digging out surprising facts and pleasant coincidences
from across the villages of Salcete – to piece together the un-
usual story of a Margão ensemble that transformed into an
association of musicians, grew exponentially and blazed a
trail of success before, like a comet and like everything else
in life, fading away.
In doing so, Melvyn saved by recording in print a part,
however small, of the history (that would otherwise be lost)
of Goa’s musical traditions. Whether a small part or a large
part is immaterial, size does not matter – every drop that
goes to make the ocean has equal value. And the present
work, which highlights the importance of documenting the
14

lives and music of some unsung and forgotten Salcete mu-

sicians, one earnestly hopes, is only a curtain-raiser, the
start of much more on Goan music from the flowing pen
of Melvyn Misquita.
Goa has plenty of historians – architectural historians,
culture historians, historical historians, political historians,
sociological historians, sports historians, et al, but sadly, no
one who can be called a music historian! This is surpris-
ing for a place like Goa, which has produced so many mu-
sicians, including musicians of national and international
repute. It is my humble and earnest hope that Melvyn will
continue this work and one day be called Goa’s First Mu-
sic Historian. The present painstaking work does spark that
hope.
(Of course, many have written about Goan music... Dr
Jose Pereira, Fr Antonio da Costa, Micael Martins, Prof. Lu-
cio Rodrigues, Mario Cabral e Sa, folklorist Oslando, Antsher
Lobo, Prof. Rafael Fernandes, Andrew Greno Viegas, Boaven-
ture D’Pietro, Isidore Dantas... but their work is on rather
well-known genres of Goan music. I am on lesser-known
musicians but who adroitly carried the banner of Goan mu-
sic forward during their lives.)
Per square metre of land, I don’t think any region in India
comes close to the density of musicians that Goa produced
– thanks to the parochial mestres/ mestris (music school tu-
tors) of yore. There has also been a legion of Goan greats
in Hindustani classical music – like Khapruji Parvatkar and
Kamurao Mangeshkar (tabla), a much younger Shridhar Par-
sekar (Indian classical violin), and vocalists Anjanibai Mal-
pekar, Kesarbai Kerkar, Moghubai Kurdikar, Vatsalabai Par-
vatkar, Shrimatibai Narvekar, Dinanath Mangeshkar, Jyost-
 15

na Bhole, Anjanibai Lolekar, Dattaram Parvatkar, Baburao

Kumthekar, Kishori Amonkar, Shobha Gurtu, Pandit Jeeten-
dra Abhisheki and, including Bollywood, Lata Mangeshkar
– but they belong to a different music genre. We are on Goa’s
western musical traditions.
Goa produced a high density of western musicians and
composers. But only a few names – like those of maestros
Antonio Fortunato de Figueiredo and Fr Lourdino Barreto,
internationally renowned musicians like Remo Fernandes,
pop singers like Lorna and Alfred Rose – are known.
It is an irony that only a few composers like Chris Perry,
Frank Fernand and Anthony Gonsalves are immediately re-
cognised, known and remembered over the decades. Like
Chris, Frank Fernand of Curchorem was a Bollywood music
great. He was not just Kalyanji-Anandji’s music director but
produced the evergreen Konkani motion pictures Amchem
Noxib and Nirmon. Like Chris Perry and Frank Fernand,
Anthony Gonsalves was also a Bollywood music director to
Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Pyarelal Sharma, in tribute to the mae-
stro, in the 1977 Manmohan Desai film Amar, Akbar, An-
thony dedicated the song ‘My Name is Anthony Gonsalves’
for the man himself before he retired and returned to his
native Majorda in Salcete. But these are not the only ones.
It is actually a legend, but like what lies below the tip of an
iceberg, unknown or forgotten – is the bulk.
How many recognise, know or remember the name of
Jerry Braganza of Mapusa? He produced the first Konkani
film to be released in 1950, Mogacho Anvddo, and crafted
some fine melodies like ‘Potovantly Kunvor’, ‘Motiancho Sur-
ngar’ and ‘Jurament Neketrancher’ in it. For that matter,
how many Goan musicians – from a myriad spanning the
16

19th and 20th centuries – are known or remembered today?

In fact, most of them have been forgotten, and a valuable
part of Goa’s music history almost lost. It needs to be resus-
citated, recorded, and bequeathed to posterity.
A rich heritage of knowledge of the men who created the
world of Goan music – from religious music to the profane
like mando, dulpod and other popular forms — not avail-
able in such density anywhere else in India, will be lost for-
ever unless it is documented and preserved. Melvyn has
taken the first step in that direction and one hopes that this
is just the first step... to what one wishes will bloom into a
marathon!
Of course, it is a daunting task to research and write about
musicians long since past. Most, unlike José Gracias, did
not leave behind written records, and if they did and those
records still survive, may be lying in some attic – waiting
either to be discovered or devoured by termite. The chal-
lenges in digging out information are many. But Melvyn has
overcome them professionally and the proof is now in your
hands.
With hopes that Melvyn will continue this noble endeav-
our, as expressed before, may I now turn to that little amaz-
ing place I happened to be born in, in Margão.

***

I was privileged to be born and raised in the Holy Spirit

Church area of Margão. From the immediate vicinity sprout-
ed four greats of the Konkani stage and music world of re-
cent memory. Of around the same vintage, sprouted the
four pioneers who put together the ensemble that is the
subject of this book. This area also produced, a century be-
 17

fore, several other music teachers who laid the strong foun-
dations of musical traditions in Salcete in the 19th century –
and one of the greatest band masters in North India in the
earlier part of the 20th century. May I briefly elucidate.
Fifty metres from my ancestral house was the house of
Joe, Paul and Chris Perry. I never saw the person spoken
of as the greatest of them all: Joe Perry. He sadly passed
away about four years before I was born. Paul Perry’s visits
to Goa, in comparison, were few and far between. But Chris
Perry did come more often, and in fact retired to his ances-
tral home in Margão. At least twice daily he walked past
our house to the Old Market. If he saw my elderly paternal
aunts seated at the balcão, he would drop in for a chat.
Anthony Mendes, the greatest Konkani stage and film
comedian in my opinion, had his ancestral house a little
further, at 80 metres from mine, along the same street. He
could make audiences laugh standing still without uttering
a word – a mere twitch of his eyes, artificial moustaches
or facial expression sufficed to have the audience in splits.
Mendes’ father was hugely successful with a shop in Bom-
bay. He bought a plot along the road to Monte and built
a house. Since sold, the site today houses Margão’s Asther
Hospital.
A hundred-and-fifty metres as the bird flies lived the man
acknowledged as the ‘Father of the Konkani Tiatr’ (Pai Tia-
trist), João Agostinho Fernandes. He died nine years be-
fore I was born, but I knew his very quiet and amiable grey-
haired son after his return to the ancestral house from a
working lifetime in Bombay – and the Pai Tiatrist’s godson,
João Agostinho Pereira, a closer neighbour at just 30 metres,
of the same Pereira stock as Joe, Paul and Chris Perry but
18

played, and gave lessons, in the violin.

About twice the distance at three-hundred metres, off
what was known as ‘Colva Circle’ and is now called the ‘Clock-
tower Circle’ in Madel, was raised another great of the Kon-
kani stage and music world.
Around the third quarter of the nineteenth century, an
Aguiar from Ambajim moved to Madel in Margão, close to
the town’s market (which hosted the twice-weekly taluka
bazaar day). Leaving the family back at Madel, his son went
to places in Ponda taluka like Madkai/Marcaim. The son’s
son, Manuel Aguiar, born 1930, grew up in Madel.
The lad studied at the Catholic Educational Institute fo-
unded in 1923 by Roque Santana Almeida of Banda, Assol-
na. The school, precursor of today’s Holy Spirit Institute,
functioned from the first floor of the now crumbling his-
toric edifice that once housed the taluka municipality. From
early, Manuel displayed a marked talent for stage acting and
singing and performed at school functions.
Despite pressure from parents and teachers to pay more
attention to studies, he stayed on the course of stage life.
He wrote his first play (Rinkari) at age 18 and grew into a
big name in the Konkani tiatr world, eventually decorated
by three Presidents of India and bestowed with the Padma
Shri by the Government of India in 2005. The famous tiat-
rist got the Goa State Award in 1985, the national Sangeet
Natak Academy’s award in 1995, and the Padma Shri in 2005
– or an award every decade! His stage name: M. Boyer.
Four greats from the stage, film and music world, all with-
in a radius of 300 metres! That’s called good fortune. And it
doesn’t end there.
 19

***

Much the same way as the four Konkani greats, all the
four founders of the Margão Quartet, about whom this book
is about, were from the neighbourhood: Alvito da Costa,
Ronaldo Coutinho, José Gracias (all from Borda) and Ana-
cleto de Figueiredo – scion of the great maestro Antonio
Fortunato de Figueiredo of Loutulim – who resided a shout
away at Old Market.
The Quartet soon turned into a Quintet with the entry of
their friend and mentor Joe Perry (as seen, a closer neigh-
bour in Povoação), having returned home to recuperate fr-
om indifferent health.
Joe Perry was said to be a genius in music. He unfortu-
nately passed away at a young age of 28 in 1952. In trib-
ute to their mentor and friend, Alvito da Costa, Ronaldo
Coutinho and José Gracias (Anacleto de Figueiredo had, by
then, left Goa for further studies) formed a band ‘Joe Blues’.
Times were different. When Alvito da Costa (band leader),
Ronaldo Coutinho (manager) and José Gracias (secretary)
formed the ‘Joe Blues’ in the mid-20th century, music was
not a paying proposition in Goa and shows were not fre-
quent. Musicians struggled to make a living. It was just
their passion that kept them going.
Hardly surprising that many musicians were reluctant to
encourage their children to follow in their footsteps. Yet,
some children persisted. Ravi Coutinho and Mercy Fernan-
des are mentioned in this book. Their respective fathers,
Ronaldo Coutinho and Pedro Santana Fernandes,were ma-
tes in the band that is the subject of this book. The sons not
just followed in the footsteps of their fathers, but, like their
20

fathers, played together as for instance in Muzik Mann and

Pure Magic. They played together in Muzik Mann at the Ke-
sarval hotel in Verna on the night of 25 January 1989. I know.
It was my wedding reception.

***

Rounding the interior grandeur of Margão’s Holy Spirit

Church – the second church in South Goa after Rachol – is
an unseen grand pipe organ in the choir loft. Music ema-
nating from that huge organ was controlled not so much
by the gifted mestre at the keyboard, but by the sexton who
had to vigorously pump the organ’s pedal – to produce air in
the pipes for the music to be heard, in that era when electri-
cal amplification of sound did not exist. More the pumping,
better the volume! When the sexton worked spiritedly, the
organ could be heard a good half kilometre away.
Margão’s Holy Spirit Church organ would have inspired
the legion of mestres or music tutors who spawned genera-
tions of gifted musicians. Loutulim, Curtorim and Raia con-
tributed much to Salcete’s traditions of music and in par-
ticular to mando compositions. Margão cradled musicians
through her parish music school teachers. Just a quick peep
at a legendary 19th Century mestre of this parish school and
two of his famous students.
Mestre Fancu (short for Francisco), one hears, was the
greatest of them. Mestre Fancu’s house, rebuilt much after
him, still stands – at the Tepdde Pannd, the lane that leads
into Modsai, down the slope of the Tepodd trees and the
Azaredo/Barreto Miranda houses in the corner near Lar dos
Estudantes (now the ‘Pope John Paul II Complex’, the pre-
marriage counselling centre).
 21

Mestre Fancu was the music instructor at the Holy Spirit

parochial music school in his time. He generated a genera-
tion of musicians who shot to fame not only in Margão, or
Goa, but in India and overseas. His locally-settled students
who are still remembered are Agostinho Carvalho and Nunes
Fernandes who went on to become masters in their own
right.
Mestre Agostinho Carvalho hailed from Madel. At the
Holy Spirit parochial music school when young, he showed
promise and was taken under the wings by his music tea-
cher, the revered Mestre Fancu. Mestre Agostinho went on
a lifetime with his new calling in music, to lead one of Goa’s
then reigning bands, the Banda Central.
Mestre Nunes Fernandes, another of Mestre Fancu’s pu-
pils, went on to excel with a rival band, the Banda Nacional.
Like latter day rivals, the Central and Nacional were always
rivals in competition. But unlike Agostinho Carvalho’s pure-
ly commercial band, Nacional was regarded more as a parish
band – always at call for any church feast, procession or oc-
casion.

***

Roque Santano Rodrigues e Cota (hereafter, Santan Cota

as he was commonly known) had no rival in North India.
The Calcutta-based prodigy, reputed to have more than a
thousand musicians at call throughout North India at any
given point of time, had an interesting background.
Santan Cota hailed from Curtorim. A prodigious musi-
cian from young age, he hailed from a modest family back-
ground and always aspired to uplift his family’s material cir-
cumstances. He had the rest – a fire of entrepreneurship in
22

the belly, smart business ideas in the head, magic on the

neck of a violin (and the keyboard of a piano) at his finger-
tips – but lacked the necessary money in his pocket to start
and make it big. He desperately needed seed capital.
On a particular feast day, when he knew collections from
the faithful were hefty at the Curtorim church, Santan Cota
decided to break free. Before the feast High Mass was over,
he stealthily crept into the Vicar’s room, lifted the day’s cash
collections, and vanished in thin air!
Santan Cota resurfaced in Calcutta, then the capital city
of British India. His live music business grew steadily. He
took his younger siblings to Calcutta and gave them the best
education that money could buy – in the metro and at con-
vent schools in Darjeeling and Kurseong. (His only brother,
the younger Socorro graduated, worked in the judicial ad-
ministration of Bengal, and retired as the Registrar of the
Calcutta High Court.)
Santan Cota in time became the biggest bandmaster in
North India, employing a huge army of musicians who play-
ed at all the elite clubs, nightclubs and cinemas in that age
of silent films. He was the ultimate name of choice. At Ma-
haraja Weddings in North India, he assembled anywhere
between 300 to 500 musicians for the occasion.
Santan Cota finally visited Goa. Amongst the first things
he did was to call at the Curtorim church and return the en-
tire amount of the feast day collections that he had lifted, to-
gether with lavish interest commensurate with his present
status. He also founded the public charity, Associação Pão
de Santo António in Curtorim.
He married Cecilia Artemicia Silveira Vital of Divar and
built a posh storeyed mansion (which actually looks like a
 23

ground-floor-only house from the outside) at Ojhi Pannd

(lane of midwives) at Tembim in Margão (again, around 300
metres from my house).
One summer Sunday at Margão’s Holy Spirit Church, San-
tan Cota spotted a beautiful young woman, made enquiries
about her, found out she was from Piedade-Divar (in fact
a close relative of his Silveira Vital wife from the same is-
land) and got the woman’s younger sister as a bride for his
younger brother Socorro. The woman that Santan Cota spot-
ted at the Margão church was Guilhermina de Sá, my fa-
ther’s mother.
I humbly trust these not so few lines will set the tone for
a good read – of facts some of which were not known to a
person living right in the midst of it all, me, but are now
known thanks to my friend, Melvyn Misquita.

Valmiki Faleiro
Margão,
30 March 2022
T HE pages may have aged over the last seven decades
and the book may have long lost its binding, but a metic-
ulously maintained diary with its brown cover still intact is
carefully stored in one cupboard at the house of José Xavier
da Piedade Gracias in Borda-Margão.
In another section of the house lies a metal trunk which
contains hundreds of well-preserved handwritten music she-
ets, some dating back to 1944, hundreds of printed music
sheets sourced from abroad and dozens of neatly stacked
copies of the jazz magazine ‘Down Beat’ from the mid-1960’s
to the mid-1970’s.
A different area in the Gracias House has a collection
of LP phonograph records, some of which had been auto-
graphed by the legendary Goan musician Chris Perry him-
self.
A certificate issued in May 1964 officially acknowledg-
ing the Goa Chapter of ‘Friends of Music USA’ (FOMUSA)
and containing the faded signature of the legendary Willis
Conover, American radio broadcaster and jazz promoter,
the long-time host of the Music USA programmes on the
Voice of America (VOA), and some memorabilia from the
‘Friends of Music USA’ are also stored in other rooms of the
Gracias House.
All these rare and valued collections located in different
parts of the Gracias house may appear disconnected and
 25

unrelated. But when brought together and placed in per-

spective, there is a strong connection and a special relation.
Not only were the diary, the handwritten music sheets,
the jazz magazines, the LPs and the certificate recognising
the Goa Chapter of ‘Friends of Music USA’ among the prized
possessions of late José Gracias (1929-2003), they reveal the
fascinating and largely untold story of about three dozen
Goan musicians, mainly from Salcete and hailing from dif-
ferent walks of life, who came together as friends and musi-
cians between 1951 and 1963, to collaborate and share their
passion for music.
It is the story of a part-time musical quartet which un-
expectedly transformed into an association of music lovers
as a tribute to their mentor, friend and exceptionally gifted
musician, José Pereira of Povoação-Margão – better known
as Joe Perry, the elder brother of Cristovao (Chris) Perry and
Paul Perry. Joe Perry passed away in 1952 at the young age
of 28, cutting short his certain and expected journey to mu-
sical stardom.
It was an era when these Goan musicians overcame bar-
riers and when music transcended borders, demonstrating
quite admirably that music knows no barriers or borders.
T HIS project would never have been conceived and plan-
ned, had it not been for a casual conversation among
musicians on a social media chat group on 23 July 2020.
As I was finalising my research on the Goan Konkani hy-
mn book, Gaionancho Jhelo (Garland of Hymns), there was
an interesting discussion on the group on how musicians
in Goa travelled between north and south Goa in the 1950-
’60s.
One member suggested that it would be interesting to
interview musicians of the 1950s and 1960s, when another
member and prominent Goan musician, Ravindra Coutin-
ho (Ravi) of Borda-Margão, made a casual mention of two
musicians, Ze (José) Gracias and Alvito da Costa, both from
Borda-Margão.
The very mention of “Ze Gracias” immediately triggered
my interest. He was my late father-in-law, José Xavier da
Piedade Gracias. I did know, both from my interaction with
him during the last three years of his life, as well as from my
wife, Anastasia (Tasi), and her family in the years to follow,
that he was passionate about music and that, he had been
a musician for some time.
I then got in touch with my brother-in-law, Antonio (Tony)
Gracias, and asked him if he had some photos of his father
as a musician, hoping to post those photos on the social
media chat group.
 27

What he revealed not only stunned me, it left me in awe

of my father-in-law for preserving details of an era which
had largely been forgotten over the decades. Tony informed
me that his father had preserved a diary, one of his prized
collections, which contained details, photos, news clippings
and musicians of a band between 1953 and 1963, which had
been initially formed as ‘Joe Blues’ in tribute of a friend,
mentor and acclaimed musician, Joe Perry. A band which
went on to change its name to ‘Music Lovers’ within a few
months and had played, in all, nearly 170 shows between
the early 1950s and the early 1960s.
By now, my interest was sufficiently aroused and my ini-
tial plans to post some photos of musicians from the 1950s
and 1960s on the social media group were quickly aban-
doned. Instead, I decided to piece together this fascinating
story which lay obscure under a shroud as it were for nearly
seven decades.
But first, I needed to get access to that diary. Tony Gra-
cias was kind enough to hand over the diary to me for a few
days. After scanning the entire diary, which now shows age
and deterioration, I began studying and absorbing every de-
tail, photo and entry in the diary, virtually transporting my-
self back into that musical era.
The diary contained several photos, newspaper cuttings,
names of musicians and the instruments they played, de-
tails of their shows, a repertoire of their songs, some invita-
tions, autographs, souvenirs and mementos.
Handwritten notes seemed to suggest that the diary may
have been started by the band members to keep a record,
not just of their shows and songs, but their entire musical
journey which had a definite mission. That this cherished
28

record of people and events eventually remained in the res-

idence of my father-in-law over the next seven decades was
most fortunate for me.
And there was a real element of serendipity as I went
about with my work. Having access to a wealth of informa-
tion in the very house of my in-laws is one thing, putting
people and events into perspective and seeking more con-
tacts of musicians or their relatives is quite something else.
I got in touch with Ravi Coutinho of Margão on 22 Au-
gust 2020, not only because he had initiated the casual dis-
cussion on two musicians, Ze (José) Gracias and Alvito da
Costa, but because his father, Ronaldo (fondly known as
Piti), had played alongside my father-in-law and Alvito. To
my good fortune, he was very supportive of my project and
went out of his way to render all possible assistance.
Our subsequent interactions were most pleasant and in-
formative. Ravi not only gave me some insights into the
life and music of his father, but also shared with me expe-
riences of his own life as a musician.
Then, I got to know from Ravi and my in-laws that a gen-
tleman, Anacleto Figueiredo, who was a friend and fellow
musician with Gracias, da Costa and Coutinho, was actu-
ally residing in Goa. I was quite excited to interact with him,
hoping that he would throw more light into this musical as-
sociation of their era, especially since most of the other mu-
sicians in that band were no more.
I called up Anacleto Figueiredo on 22 August and, again,
to my fortune and luck, he was also very supportive of the
project and shared whatever information he could recollect
of his association with the band.
Other fortunate series of events and support from peo-
 29

ple at every juncture greatly aided in my project.

I was keen to find family members of one particular mu-
sician, not only because he was already a rising star while
still in his early twenties, but because he had passed away
at a very young age. There were precious few clues in the di-
ary besides his name, Pascoal Antonio Fernandes, and the
instruments that he had played in the band. Others I con-
tacted had no details about Pascoal and his family.
Then, there was yet another stroke of luck and from an
unlikely source. Among the collections in my father-in-law’s
house was a meticulously maintained bunch of dozens of
obituary cards of relatives and friends, which were usually
handed out to people participating in Requiem Masses to
mark the ‘Month’s Mind’ or a death anniversary.
Inside that bunch was the ‘Month’s Mind’ obituary card
of Pascoal Antonio Fernandes. I was pleased to find a clue
regarding his place of origin: Pedda-Benaulim. I then con-
tacted a priest friend hailing from Benaulim to help identify
the descendants of Pascoal Antonio Fernandes. The priest
made efforts but was unable to provide details of Pascoal’s
family.
I was not deterred and I mentioned this to Ravi, but he
was confident that having gone this far in my project and
with luck at every juncture, I would eventually be successful
in locating the family of Pascoal.
And believe it or not, it was Ravi himself who brought me
that luck! Ravi had gone through the list of musicians and
noticed the name of Pedro Santana Fernandes. He then re-
membered that one of his former bandmates, Mercio (Mer-
cy) Fernandes of Assolna, had also played the similar instru-
ments and vaguely recalled that Mercy had made mention
30

of his father, Pedro Santana. Could Mercy have been the

son of Pedro Santana Fernandes, a musician mentioned in
the diary?
Ravi then contacted Mercy, who confirmed the identity
of his father. Thanks to Ravi, I got in touch with Mercy on
7 September 2020, who was equally pleased to learn about
this development. Mercy, in fact, recalled having accom-
panied his father, Pedro Santana, to meet my father-in-law,
José Gracias, many years ago.
I then sent Mercy a list of all those musicians who had
been part of the band and Mercy then helped identify other
musicians in that list, Custodio Inacio Cardozo (Rachol), Pe-
ter Lobo (Ambora) and Saby Dias (Tarivaddo-Assolna). Mu-
ch to my delight, Mercy provided me with details of Pascoal
Antonio Fernandes (Pedda-Benaulim) and his family. And
to make the discovery even sweeter, Mercy mentioned that
he was also a relative of Pascoal Antonio Fernandes.
I also got in touch with Vellon Fernandes, the maternal
grandson of Pascoal Antonio Fernandes, on 8 September
2020, and he was delighted to know that I had a photo, obit-
uary card and some details about his grandfather, which
were unknown to their family. Vellon’s grandmother, Car-
oline Baptista, had passed away four years earlier, taking
with her precious memories of her husband to her grave.
Thanks to Mercy, I got in touch with Franky Cardozo, the
son of Custodio Inacio Cardozo, on 9 September 2020. A
musician based in New Delhi for about three decades, Fran-
ky was also pleased to know about my project and confirmed
that his father had been a member of the group, after hav-
ing gone through the photos of the musicians I had sent
him.
 31

Franky even recalled having gone to meet my father-in-

law at his house in Borda in connection with some legal
advice a few decades earlier. He assured to provide more
details about his father, besides helping identify other mu-
sicians mentioned in the diary and their families.
Later that night, I received a message from Manuel (Ma-
nu) Fernandes, nephew of Pascoal Antonio Fernandes, who
was also excited about my project and provided me with
some details about his uncle.
Then, Franky Cardozo referred me to his musician friend,
Rocky Gomes, the nephew of another musician in the list,
Damaso Gomes. I then got in touch with Rocky on 11 Sep-
tember 2020. He was not only pleased to hear about the
project, but was even able to identify some other musicians
from the list.
Franky later got in touch with his brother, Antonio, who
mentioned that his friend’s father, Cipriano Dourado of Ut-
orda, was another musician in the list. Both friends were
fascinated to know that their fathers had been members of
a band nearly 70 years ago!
Mercy then sent me some more contact details. On 19
September 2020, I contacted Tony Lobo, the son of one mu-
sician, Casmiro Lobo and nephew of Peter Lobo. Casmiro
and Peter Lobo, brothers from Ambora, had been involved
in the band at some point in time.
Dr André Rafael Fernandes, former Professor and Head
of the Department of English at Goa University and, inci-
dentally, also a member on the social media chat group,
had been aware of my project, as I had posted a list of mu-
sicians and had sought details from group members on any
possible information regarding these musicians.
32

Dr Fernandes got in touch with me on 16 September 2020

and shared details of his interview with Antonio Moraes,
one of the musicians in the list, which had been part of
his doctoral research on Tiatr. He also shared a portion of
his article, detailing the pioneering contribution of Antonio
Moraes to the development of Khell Tiatr.
During one of my visits to the Gracias house in Borda,
Tony and I were discussing the developments in my project
thus far. By now, Tony was sufficiently interested in the
project and decided to take a closer look at the trunk, a
treasure trove of music memorabilia preserved by his father,
Jose Gracias.
He proceeded to the old metal trunk lying in one room of
the house and opened it. My eyes widened, jaws dropped
and goose bumps began to appear as Tony carefully began
to remove dozens of handwritten music sheets neatly stack-
ed in the trunk. I simply could not believe there were so
many handwritten music sheets, so well preserved and from
an era seven decades ago.
We began examining a few of the music sheets with the
care that they deserved and with the greatest of interest, oc-
casionally exchanging notes on the quality of paper which
enabled the music sheets to survive this long, the neat hand-
writing and signatures of the musicians concerned, the in-
tricate chords and notes to the songs and moreover, the pro-
fessionalism of the musicians in the band.
What also excited us was the discovery of a number of
original compositions by some of the musicians which were
long forgotten over the decades!
This treasure trove of history and heritage needed to be
preserved for posterity. While I was excited to see all these
 33

handwritten music sheets, I also determined to scan the en-

tire set of handwritten music sheets for a number of rea-
sons. First, many of these music sheets were torn at the
sides, possibly due to prolonged use during performances
for several years, while others were showing signs of age af-
ter they were first written decades earlier.
Besides, I was keen to preserve these handwritten mu-
sic sheets, not only for future generations, but also for my
project, as many of these music sheets provided valuable
information regarding the period and place these musical
notations were written and copied.
But a desire to scan these documents is one thing and
actually implementing that desire is quite another. After all,
there were hundreds of music sheets in varying sizes in the
trunk at the Gracias house and it would take hardware, soft-
ware and above all, human effort to scan these hundreds of
music sheets.
And given that these music sheets had immense value,
I was never going to send these hundreds of music sheets
to be scanned at a commercial photocopying store. I had
to do it myself, at home, in quick time and if possibly, with
the help of someone, or some persons, who understood the
value of this project.
That help came from my brother-in-law, Tony Gracias,
and the Gracias family, comprising my mother-in-law, Philo-
mena Gracias, my wife, Anastasia (Tasi) and Tony’s wife, Afro-
dite (Afro), who offered full support to the idea of scanning
these music sheets.
We now needed access to a scanner which could scan
A3-sized papers, given the varying sizes of the music sheets.
After making several enquiries, I finally got in touch with
34

Ambrose Vaz of Nuvem-Salcete, who is in the business of

renting out IT equipment for short-term projects.
We worked out the hiring charges, logistics and it was
decided that we would collect the scanner from his house in
Nuvem and bring it to my house in Porvorim for two days.
Two days of scanning hundreds of music sheets meant
that Tony and I would have to work at hectic pace, with bare
minimum gaps during the day.
As planned, we collected the rather bulky A3 printer, scan-
ner and copier from Ambrose’s house on 26 September 2020
and immediately got to work. It was sheer hard work and
we put in nearly 25 hours from 26 September to 27 Septem-
ber 2020, scanning virtually all handwritten music sheets,
pausing only for brief moments to admire the details and
efforts by the writers and those hand copying the music
sheets who painstakingly put down notes and instructions
into paper.
The thick stationery not only added life to those hand-
written music sheets during the performances, it also en-
abled them remain in good to excellent condition for sev-
eral decades to follow.
Many of these music sheets told fascinating stories of
their own: Who wrote and signed on them, when and where
were they written and what instructions, if any, had been
left for the musicians.
As part of this project, I was keen to contact relatives
of other musicians who played in the band and in this re-
gard, I was eager to get in touch with the family of Damask
(Damaso) Braganza of Majorda, a well-known musician of
his time.
Several attempts failed and everyone I had contacted from
 35

Majorda had not heard of Damask Braganza or his family.

Undeterred, I then tried contacting people in their late 70s
and early 80s, who may have information on musicians from
Majorda who, in turn, would have some recollections of
Damask.
I was advised to contact a well-known musician, Thomas
Antao of Majorda, who may have heard of Damask. I sought
the contact details of Thomas on social media and was glad
to have received the phone numbers of Thomas Antao and
his son, Peter.
I got in touch with Thomas and Peter on 23 January 2022
and while Thomas remembered Damask as a very gifted
and famous musician, he did not have personal recollec-
tions of Damask.
Peter was very helpful and offered to send me contact
details of Inacio José Gomes, who resided close to Damask’s
house. I contacted Inacio and to my good fortune, he knew
Damask quite well and provided me some precious details
of the famed musician.
Later on 27 January 2022, Franky Cardozo sent me con-
tact details of Martin and Jerry Vas, the sons of Camilo Vas
of Rachol, a musician who was also identified in one photo
of the musicians. I got in touch with both of them. Not only
did they provide recollections of their father, we also found
out an interesting connection between Jerry and his band-
mate, who happened to be a relative of another member in
the list of musicians.
On the same day, I took a closer look at two photos in the
diary, which were clicked at a show at Carmona in 1954 and
the seven musicians who had played at this show.
Four of those musicians had been identified, while three
36

others – a trumpet player, a saxophone player and a trom-

bone player – were yet to be identified. I then decided to
have a closer look at the list of musicians mentioned in the
diary who had performed in the band.
It then struck me that there was mention of only one
trombone player, Lawrence Luis, in the list of musicians.
Could Lawrence Luis have been this unidentified trombone
player in the photo?
I then turned to Mercy yet again and he managed to find
the contact details of Lawrence’s son, Victor, on 28 January
2022. I contacted Victor, who is presently based in Vasco,
and he immediately identified his father, who was the uniden-
tified trombone player in the photo!
There were other fascinating details yet to unfold. A con-
versation with Bardroy Barretto, director of the acclaimed
Konkani film Nachom-ia Kumpasar (Let’s Dance to the Rhy-
thm) on 30 January 2022 led us to an interesting find which
involved two musicians from this group. More about this
later.
The list of musicians recorded in the diary revealed an-
other piece of information, leading to the identity of yet an-
other musician.
There was a mention of a musician simply noted as “Ig-
natius (guest artiste), trumpet player and band leader”. It
was clear that since he was a guest artiste, Ignatius could
not have been the band leader of ‘Joe Blues’ or ‘Music Lovers’.
It was probable that he may have been the leader of another
band.
A clue into the identity of this musician was suggested by
Fr Joaquim Loiola Pereira, secretary to the archbishop and
a noted musician himself, when I had sent him a draft of
 37

my project for his perusal and comments.

While offering various suggestions in his detailed reply
to me, Fr Pereira said, “Number 36...I guess should be Ig-
natius from Benaulim, of the ‘Ignatius and His Swinging
Boys’ fame. Just a comment.”
This was a significant lead since this Ignatius from our
list of musicians may have indeed been the band leader of
his band ‘Ignatius and His Swinging Boys’ from Benaulim.
As before, I turned to Mercy for confirmation. He imme-
diately confirmed that there was an Ignatius Fernandes, a
trumpet player and leader of ‘Ignatius and his Swing Band’
from Benaulim. It could only mean one thing: Ignatius from
the list of musicians in the diary and ‘Ignatius and his Swing
Band’ was one and the same person.
What was also interesting is that Mercy’s father, Pedro
Santana, another musician in ‘Music Lovers’, had, at some
point in time, also played for ‘Ignatius and his Swing Band’.
Mercy then mentioned to me that Ignatius would play the
trumpet while his son, Mariano, would play the banjo in the
‘Ignatius and his Swing Band’.
Mercy also said Mariano’s son Ignatius (Iggy), who shares
the same name as his grandfather, happens to be the drum-
mer of a well-known Goan band ‘The Big City Band’. I then
got in touch with Ignatius on 2 February 2022 and he pro-
vided me with some details about his grandfather.
On the same day, Mercy also provided me with the con-
tact details of Conceicao Bernardo Diogo da Silva, better
known by his stage name ‘Connie M’, a drummer from Per-
Seraulim. Connie M was a drummer for ‘Ignatius and his
Swing Band’ for a few years and shared memories of Ignatius.
What is interesting is that Connie M then went on to play
38

with Custodio Inacio Cardozo, another musician from ‘Mu-

sic Lovers’, in his CIC band. Connie M also knew Cypriano
Dourado of Utorda and Damaso Gomes of Navelim, two
other members of ‘Music Lovers’. He also recognised an-
other musician, Andre Fernandes of Maddel-Margão, from
the list of 37 musicians recorded in the diary.
I was pleased that details of five more musicians in the
list had now been obtained within 10 days!
This project was to unearth a number of coincidences:
Bandmates, friends who never knew that their fathers or rel-
atives had been members of the same band from a previous
generation.
This story was initially published in my blog on 25 Febru-
ary 2022 and it generated considerable interest among rela-
tives and friends of musicians in the project and from oth-
ers across the world. Many sent messages and posted com-
ments in social media groups after being fascinated with
the story, and to commend the work and efforts involved
in the project. Some even suggested that this story be pub-
lished as a book, to give it some definite and physical for-
mat for posterity.
Journalist Frederick Noronha, who manages the publish-
ing house Goa, 1556, offered to publish the book, given its
uniqueness and originality in content and the fact that it fo-
cused on Goan music and musicians, an aspect of Goan cul-
ture which has not received adequate attention in research
thus far. This music project was then expanded and refined
to include relevant sections and formats for a book, to be
called Symphony of Passion.
I got in touch with well-known writer and researcher, Val-
miki Faleiro of Margão, to write the foreword to this book,
 39

since he had carefully gone through the initial draft of this

project and was familiar with the story.
Faleiro was initially reluctant to do so (as has been ex-
plained by him in his foreword), but I managed to persuade
him, after pointing out that the first five musicians in this
story all resided in the vicinity of his residence, thereby giv-
ing Faleiro a special connect to this story.
And then, Faleiro found out an unusual coincidence whi-
ch further connected him to the sons of two musicians in
this story. He has made mention of this connection in his
foreword.
Just as this music project was being paused (not stopped,
given that details on many of these musicians are still emerg-
ing and this revised information will, hopefully, be incorpo-
rated in revised editions of this music project either in print
or online) for the purpose of a proposed book, some unex-
pected developments turned up at the last moment and I
was compelled to include these details, given their connec-
tion to this music project.
To be precise, it was some doubt over one detail which
led to a surprising find and a series of coincidences.
On 10 March 2022, noted Goan jazz pianist Tony Dias
had sent me details of acclaimed jazz musician, music com-
poser and arranger Anthony (Toni) Pinto, originally from
Socorro but presently based in Toronto-Canada.
Toni has been active in music since 1953, having per-
formed with various music directors in Bollywood for 34
years, besides with several other bands in India, before he
relocated to Canada.
What caught my attention was Toni’s message which was
forwarded to me by Tony Dias. Toni had made mention of
40

“his sax player Norman Mobsby on tenor”.

I immediately recalled Damask Braganza had also per-
formed with Mobsby and wondered if Toni may have known
Damask.
Tony Dias sent me Toni’s contact details and I sent a mes-
sage to Toni, enquiring if he had any recollections of Damask.
To my pleasant surprise, Toni, not only remembered Damask
but even sent me some of his recollections of Damask.
There was, however, some doubt in one detail sent to me
by Toni and I decided to cross-check it with Inacio Gomes,
who had earlier provided me with details on Damask.
Gomes not only clarified this detail, but also suggested
that I could contact the granddaughter of Damask, present-
ly based in the UK, for further details on her grandfather. I
was more than happy to do so.
Gomes sent me the contact details of Valarie D’Souza
and I immediately got in touch with her on 19 March 2022.
Valarie was quite excited to see the photos I had sent her
pertaining to her grandfather, Damask, and other bandma-
tes during a rehearsal at Margão in 1958.
Valarie and I then had a telephonic conversation on 20
March 2022 and she was pleased to know that details of her
grandfather were being included in a music project.
She was happy to collaborate in providing all possible
recollections of her grandfather, besides sending me some
photos of him.
Valarie mentioned to me she had been married to John
D’Souza, a musician from Borda-Margão. This piece of in-
formation was of interest to me since three musicians in
this project – Alvito da Costa, Ronaldo Coutinho and José
Gracias – were also from Borda. I then found out that both
 41

John and Ronaldo’s son, Ravi, resided in the vicinity!

Valarie then went on to add that the band ‘Pure Magic’
had played at her wedding on 14 December 2002. This was
even more of a pleasant coincidence because the fathers
of two members of ‘Pure Magic’ (Ravi Coutinho and Mercy
Fernandes) had been the bandmates with the grandfather
of the bride five decades earlier. Something that none of
them would have known at the time.
Further coincidences were soon to follow. Since Valarie
and her family were residing in Borda-Margão and she had
married John, who also resided in the vicinity, I made men-
tion of this to my brother-in-law, Tony Gracias, on 23 March
2022 and he immediately recalled having known both John
and Valarie’s brother, Alfred.
“In fact, I knew Alfi (Alfred) quite well and we would meet
up at the residence of my close friend, Alvito (Suraj) da Costa,
grandson of the band leader, Alvito da Costa, who was my
dad’s very close friend. I also knew Johnny as we would
meet up to play football in some open space not far from
his house,” recalled Tony.
Now, the four of them – Johnny, Tony, Suraj and Alfred
– would never have known an unusual music connection
between them.
While Tony and Suraj were aware of the close musical re-
lationship between Tony’s father, José Gracias, and Suraj’s
grandfather, Alvito da Costa, the two of them did not know
that Johnny and Alfred were also connected in some way.
Alfred was the grandson of another bandmate, Damask Bra-
ganza, while Johnny had performed with Errol, the son of
Chris Perry, yet another musician in the band.
In a strange way, Alfred and his family were to have musi-
42

cal connections with eight different musicians in the project.

Consider this: Alfred, the grandson of Damask Braganza
(Musician 1) had been friends with Tony, the son of José
Gracias (Musician 2) and Suraj, the grandson of Alvito da
Costa (Musician 3), who was also the grandnephew of Gus-
tavo da Costa (Musician 4).
Alfred’s sister, Valarie, later married John, who used to
play with Errol, the son of Chris Perry (Musician 5). Errol
was also the nephew of Paul Perry (Musician 6). And then,
the band playing at the wedding reception of the couple fea-
tured Ravi, the son of Ronaldo Coutinho (Musician 7) and
Mercy, the son of Pedro Santana Fernandes (Musician 8).
Sadly, Alfred never got to know of these musical connec-
tions because he passed away in 2018.
Had it not been for a doubt in one detail which com-
pelled me to return to Inacio Gomes and seek clarity, I may
not have had the opportunity to contact Valarie and these
connections would well have remained hidden.
Around the period that Valarie, granddaughter of Damask
Braganza, got married on 14 December 2002, the atmos-
phere was sombre for another family in Borda-Margão as
one band member from the original set of musicians in ‘Joe
Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’ was seriously ill. That musician
and my father-in-law, José Gracias, passed away barely three
weeks later on 6 January 2003.
I was barely days away from submitting my manuscript
to Goa, 1556 for publication, when Fatima, wife of Anacleto
Figueiredo and sister of world-famous cartoonist Mario Mi-
randa, suggested that I contact 90-year-old Rafael Viegas, a
“walking encyclopaedia from Curtorim” as he may have in-
formation on a particular concert in Margão (more about
 43

that later).
She got in touch with Rafael Viegas on 12 April 2022 and
it so happened that he remembered a number of musicians
from this project.
Eager to obtain these last-minute details before submit-
ting my manuscript for publication, I contacted Rafael Vie-
gas the next morning and he was pleased to share his recol-
lections of 12 musicians from the band, who were known to
him: Joe, Chris and Paul Perry, Anacleto Figueiredo, Alvito
and Gustavo da Costa, Ronaldo Coutinho, José Gracias, An-
dre Santiago, Sebastião da Veiga, Custodio Cardozo and Ig-
natius Fernandes.
Rafael Viegas has an amazing memory and could easily
recollect names, dates and events going back to the 1940s.
He is truly, and in every sense, a “walking encyclopaedia
from Curtorim,” with a remarkable ability to store, and share,
information. And it is not difficult to see why.
“My father, Alvaro Viegas, was the editor of the paper
‘Ultramar’ in Margão and he resided along with his family
from 1928 till his demise in 1946 at a house along the road
to Monte Chapel,” said Viegas.
His recollections of many musicians in this project are as
valuable as the information shared by Anacleto Figueiredo,
simply because both of them are among the few witnesses
of the past, an era when musicians in this project were fri-
ends from different parts of Salcete (and beyond) who came
together to perform at shows and enthral audiences.
Thanks to a query by Fatima Figueiredo regarding a par-
ticular concert in Margão, Viegas provided valuable recol-
lections on several musicians from the project.
Information about an era which goes beyond the pages
44

of the diary, hundreds of music sheets and other music mem-

orabilia.
And just as I was giving final touches to this manuscript,
I turned to Tony Gracias on the night of 14 April 2022 for
some last-minute clarification regarding a prize-winning per-
formance of his daughter, Aanora, at a singing contest in
2018. Tony then provided details of that contest, which es-
tablished yet another unusual musical connection in this
project going back nearly seven decades earlier.
Aanora, the granddaughter of one bandmate in this mu-
sic project, had received her first prize from the organiser,
who is also the grandniece of another bandmate, something
no one would have known at the time. More about this
later.
One of the most interesting and memorable aspects of
this entire project is that apart from my in-laws, I had not
met (primarily on account of the Covid pandemic) a sin-
gle family member of the other musicians or even others
who had offered information regarding this project, from
the time this journey began on 23 July 2020 till 16 April 2022,
when the manuscript was submitted to the publisher, Goa,
1556. (Coincidentally, 16 April marked the 64th anniversary
of a famous music concert in Bombay, details of which will
be mentioned later in this project, and the 15th death an-
niversary of Pedro Santana Fernandes, one musician from
the band).
All family members who provided me with information
and others who offered assistance to this project interacted
with me only by phone, online chat and email, thereby con-
necting and collaborating through technology!
The lives and music of this set of musicians may have
 45

been largely forgotten over time, but their story was slowly,
but surely, unfolding and taking shape seven decades later,
thanks mainly to details available in the diary, music sheets
and other documents and memorabilia at the residence of
José Gracias and personal recollections of Anacleto Figuei-
redo, Rafael Viegas and a few others who performed or in-
teracted with musicians in this project.
As this book was in the final stages of publication, there
was a sad turn of events when Anacleto Figueiredo passed
away on 28 April 2022.
He was probably the last surviving member of this band
and as one of the few living witnesses to that music era in
Goa of the 1950s, Mr Figueiredo had provided me with fasci-
nating recollections and rare information regarding the ori-
gins of a band from Salcete, which proved most valuable to
my music project.
I’m deeply grateful that Mr Figueiredo could share his
wonderful recollections with me till the very last days of his
life, thereby enabling me to record his story and the story of
dozens of musicians from that band in Salcete. Had it not
been for Mr Figueiredo, significant details which feature in
this music project would never have come to light and a
piece of Goa’s music heritage would have been lost forever.
I had never met Mr Figueiredo in person, but he quickly
and willingly shared his recollections through his wife and
we went on to have numerous conversations through emails
and online messages, since my music project began in July-
August 2020 till my manuscript was sent to the publisher
Goa, 1556 on April 16.
I had been aware that Mr Figueiredo was not keeping
well in the last few weeks and I had a great desire to meet
46

him on his recovery and to extend my personal thanks to

him and his wife for all the information they had shared
with me. I had even hoped to have him release my book
at the launch, which would have been a befitting tribute to
his fellow bandmates.
Looking back, I am really glad that I initially released my
music project in my blog on 25 February. A few weeks be-
fore my music project was uploaded in my blog, I had sent
Mr Figueiredo the entire draft for his perusal and to verify
his details, thereby giving him an opportunity to read my
entire research. His wife later sent me this message: “Ana-
cleto has read and says he feels he has been elevated to an
underserving height. Says it’s well researched and written.”
I am glad that Mr Figueiredo had approved of this music
project. More importantly, his life and music will be now
recorded for posterity.
I may not have met him in life, but my wife, Anastasia
(Tasi) and I paid our last respects at the funeral of Anacleto
Figueiredo, while also offering condolences to his wife, at
their house in Margão on 29 April 2022. It had a two-fold
purpose.
First, I needed to “be” with him, even if for a few mo-
ments, to convey my profound regret on my inability to have
met him while he was still alive and to thank him for all that
he had contributed to this music project.
Second, we were, in a way, representing the families of
all musicians from ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’ in paying
our tributes to a departed bandmate.
Who started this diary of the band and how many band-
mates had maintained it over the years may never be known
with certainty. There are some who believe that this diary
 47

was initially maintained by Ronaldo Coutinho and it was

later passed on, at some point in time, to my father-in-law,
José Gracias.
But what is clear is that it was meticulously preserved in
the residence of José Gracias for several decades after the
band had played their last show on 7 February 1963.
Given that my father-in-law, José Gracias, had a pheno-
menal memory of people, places and events, I have no doubt
that he would have provided me with even more informa-
tion on each of the musicians in ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lo-
vers’, besides their music and their shows between 1953 and
1963.
This music project, however, came into existence 17 years
after the demise of José Gracias, but it almost appears that
the diary had been carefully preserved by him for five deca-
des, and later, by his family over the next two decades, with
the hope that the story of these musicians and their music
would be revealed some day.
That moment has finally arrived and the largely untold
story of these musicians and their music can finally be br-
ought to light. Thanks, largely, to a casual conversation on a
social media group of musicians, a seven-decade-old diary
(which will simply be referred to as “The Diary” in this mu-
sic project), a trunk full of music sheets and other memo-
rabilia from one residence in Borda-Margão, and valuable
recollections of a few persons from that era.
W HEN four young friends, Alvito Bernardo das Dores
Barreto e Costa, José Xavier da Piedade Gracias, Ro-
naldo Roque Carmo Coutinho and Anacleto Xavier dos Re-
medios Figueiredo, all from Margão, decided to play mu-
sic together sometime in 1950-51, little did they realise that
this union would transform into a musical association, not
just once or twice, but four times with a different shape,
form and mission for the next 14 years or so.
Besides their strong connection to music, these four mu-
sicians also had a geographical connection between them.
They were located barely about 2 kms from each other, mak-
ing it easy for them to hang out or meet up on a regular ba-
sis.
The residence of Anacleto Figueiredo is along a street
close to the Holy Spirit Church, while a little ahead and along
a road parallel to the Borda street is the house of Ronaldo
Coutinho. A few hundred metres along the Borda street is
the residence of Alvito da Costa and a further 200 metres
down the road is the house of José Gracias.
It is unclear if Alvito da Costa had studied music or was
a naturally gifted musician, but what is known is that he
was already an acclaimed musician at the time. A report in
the A Vida a Portuguese newspaper published in Goa on 4
September 1952, when translated, describes Alvito da Costa
“as a musician with fine artistic sensibilities.”
 49

According to The Diary at the Gracias residence, Alvito

was an arranger, composer and singer, who could play the
saxophone, guitar and violin. People known to him in the
area and other musicians who played along with him de-
scribed Alvito as a brilliant musician as well as an excellent
composer and arranger of music.
Anacleto Figueiredo did not consider himself a musician
but an amateur who enjoyed making music.
“I had no formal training in music, but the entire fam-
ily had been gifted in music. My uncle, Maestro Antonio de
Figueiredo, helped me and my siblings when small in devel-
oping our love for music,” said Anacleto.
“My maternal grandfather, Ligorio Dias, was from Borda
and I had friends in Borda. José Gracias and Ronaldo Cou-
tinho were with me at Loyola School in Margão. Alvito da
Costa was much older and a professional musician who play-
ed and sang in orchestras in Simla, Delhi, etc.”
Ravi Coutinho said his father, Ronaldo Roque Carmo, was
inclined to be a musician, since music ran in the family.
“My paternal grandfather, José Roque Piedade Coutinho,
was the Band Master of the 10/6th Rajputana Rifles in Delhi
and played the violin, besides arranging music for the band,”
said Ravi.
José Gracias was the son of Anastasio Gracias, a druggist
and chemist, who also served as the ‘Regedor’ of Margão.
(For those unfamiliar with the designation, a ‘Regedor’ was
reportedly an appointed and honorary post similar to that
of a village justice of peace and the position recognised the
high standing of the appointee in the community.)
The only child in his family, José Gracias was 13 years
when his father passed away and he is believed to have lear-
50

nt the guitar from his close friend and mentor, Alvito da

Costa. Besides their love for music, both Alvito and José
shared something else in common: their birthday, 2 May.
Sharing more details about their Quartet, Anacleto Figu-
eiredo said: “Alvito, José, Ronaldo and I had a Quartet, i.e.
two violins (Alvito and myself ) and two guitars (Ronaldo
and José).”
“We used to play for birthdays, on stage for school con-
certs i.e. Loyola High School, etc. and even during balls,
alternating with orchestras,” recalled Anacleto.
T HE Quartet comprising Alvito da Costa, Anacleto Figu-
eiredo, José Gracias and Ronaldo Coutinho received
an unexpected addition to the group when another youth,
José Pereira, prominently known as Joe Perry, returned from
Bombay. A fellow resident of Margão whose house was barely
a few hundred metres from that of Ronaldo Coutinho, it was
not long before Joe Perry decided to join the four young mu-
sicians.
By the time he returned to Goa, Joe Perry was already an
acclaimed musician in Bombay and Poona. Details of Joe
Perry’s musical accomplishments have been published in
the A Vida newspaper on 4 September 1952.
“In about 1951-1952, Joe Perry (José Pereira) came to Goa
from Bombay because of his health problems. He was a mu-
sical prodigy, having started to play wind as well as string
instruments at the age of 8 or 9, while he was a student of
the parochial (church) school in Margão. These schools dis-
appeared after the Portuguese left Goa,” recalled Anacleto.
“Owing to his illness, he was forbidden by doctors to play
wind instruments, but he could still play the violin. So, we
formed a Quintet with three violins, Joe, Alvito and myself,
and two guitars, Ronaldo and José. Joe used to arrange mu-
sic for the Quintet,” he added.
Details of one such performance of the Quintet are briefly
mentioned in an article in the Portuguese newspaper A Vida
(4 September 1952), which states that Joe Perry along with
52

Alvito da Costa, had organised a “Tuna Swing”, the first of

its kind in Margão town, which included the participation
of Anacleto Figueiredo, José Gracias and Ronaldo Coutinho.
This “Tuna Swing” was actually the Hungarian Rhapsody
No 2 of Liszt in the swing style.
The Quintet, however, did not last long as Anacleto Figu-
eiredo moved out of Goa to pursue further studies.
“ In June 1952, I joined the university as a (B.Com.) stu-
dent in Hubli-Karnataka,” recalled Figueiredo.
In fact, Figueiredo was not destined to remain in India
for long. He proceeded to Bombay and then in 1958, moved
to Lisbon (Portugal), Angola and later to the UK, from 1975
right up to 2012, before he and his wife returned to Goa.
Joe Perry’s health eventually deteriorated and he must
have stopped playing for the Quintet at some point in time
and remained largely confined to his house. But close fri-
ends like José Gracias would recall that he was musically as
sharp as ever.
“My father would narrate an incident to us on many oc-
casions that while Joe Perry was ill, a budding musician who
was with him at the time had been struggling to hit a high
note on the trumpet. Joe then took the trumpet and flaw-
lessly hit the particular high note, even though he had not
been permitted to play wind instruments on account of str-
ict medical advice,” said Antonio (Tony) Gracias, the son of
José Gracias.
“My father also told us that several years later, the same
musician finally managed to hit the high notes on the trum-
pet and then mentioned to my dad, ‘How I wish Joe Perry
was here to hear me hit these high notes’,” Tony added.
Joe Perry passed away on 28 August 1952 and a large num-
 53

ber of friends and admirers were reported to have attended

his funeral, with his coffin being carried on the shoulders of
his young friends.
Details about the musical genius, his various accomplish-
ments at a young age and his untimely demise were pub-
lished in an article in the Portuguese newspaper A Vida on
4 September 1952. A newspaper cutting of this article is pre-
served in The Diary. When translated into English, the re-
port reads as follows:

Joe Perry
He was known by this name, this young José Per-
eira, of this city, who passed away six days ago at
the age of 28, victim to a rebellious disease.
His was an extraordinary vocation to music, which
was nipped in the springtime of life.
Many will perhaps remember this ten-year-old lit-
tle being who, because of his size, would be made
to stand on a box or a chair, so that he could play
the flute or the violin in the ‘Banda Central’ of Agos-
tinho Carvalho. This minuscule artist of great pro-
mise would indeed engage the attention of many!
And the prophecies did not fail. Joe made a mark
in Poona, as a leading tenor sax and right hand
of Vincent Cummine, whose band was the best
in the city. Young as he was, he found himself
already writing orchestral arrangements for Beat
Nick, another band of that city.
In Bombay, he began to make waves as an alto sax
in Micky Correa’s band, which had a permanent
54

contract with the Taj. Very soon, Joe felt capable

of directing a band of his own, which was adjud-
ged the best among eight ensembles that partici-
pated in a Band Contest organized at the Greens.
He worked as Assistant Director in film compa-
nies like J.N.A. Pictures, Madukar Pictures and Cen-
tral Studios of Bombay. He took part in a contest
for musical arrangements for V. Sheerali (Ministry
of Information and Broadcasting) and played alto
sax in the Documentary Films of the Government
of India, which were awarded the first prize at the
Film Festival in Venice. He worked under the di-
rection of Naushed, an authority in Indian music,
and also of C. Ramachandra. He played various
instruments like the guitar, the bass, etc.
Besides some fifteen hundred musical arrangeme-
nts, he left behind original compositions, the best
known among which are ‘Joe Reg,’ ‘Joe’s Idea,’ ‘Ha-
vanna Ball,’ ‘Fantasia de Goa,’ ‘Good Night’ and
‘Indiana.’ In his last days, sensing the approach-
ing end, he left us his swan song, ‘Joe’s Memories.’
Owing to his ever-delicate health, he was advised
to return to his family, to take some rest. However,
he could not rest. An artist that he was, in love
with the ‘magic’ of sounds, he organised here the
Tuna Swing, a swing band, the first of its kind in
this land, with the collaboration of Alvito Costa,
known among us as a musician with fine artistic
sensibilities. Members of this band were Anacleto
Figueiredo, José Gracias and Ronaldo Coutinho.
 55

They premiered here their Hungarian Rhapsody

No. 2 by Liszt, in swing style.
Joe Perry departed too early, leaving behind a dev-
astated family and driving a nail of nostalgia in
the hearts of so many of his friends and admirers
who had been enticed by his art. His coffin was
carried on the shoulders of young friends, as in a
triumphal march....

While the entire collection of original music and arrange-

ments by Joe Perry may never be known, a few of his origi-
nal music compositions and arrangements have, however,
been preserved. Some music sheets of Joe Perry’s music
have been preserved in the residence of José Gracias at Bor-
da-Margão.
Four gramophone records released by Columbia Records,
copies of which are in the possession of the family of Roque
Antonio C Monteiro of Vanxem-Loutolim, reveal that Joe
Perry and His Orchestra had provided the music, either orig-
inal or as arrangements, to these songs ‘Cazari Bhoinnim’
(composed and sung by Aleixinho de Candolim), ‘Milagrosa
Fatima Saibinnim’ (composed and sung by Aleixinho de Can-
dolim), ‘Oh Ghe Cezarni’ (composed and sung by A Mendes)
and ‘Fatta Fatta’ (composed by E Almeida, sung by Almeida
and Tony, Anthony Mendes and His Comic Party).
Incidentally, Joe Perry had even played a role in provid-
ing music for a Konkani film.
In his article on ‘Goan music: a long, twisted, and often
colourful road across time’ in 2008, Valmiki Faleiro states,
“the first 20-odd, full-length Konkani feature films on cellu-
loid are remembered more for their music.”
56

“The first, Mogacho Aunddo (1950), produced by A L Jerry

Braganza of Mapusa, had its music by the Bollywood mae-
stro, Alfred Almeida of Cuncolim (assisted by Joe Perry –
Chris Perry’s elder brother – and Peter D’Mello). Besides the
novelty of seeing Goa on the big screen, its music largely ac-
counted for the pioneering film’s success,” states Faleiro.
With the departure of Anacleto Figueiredo for further stu-
dies outside Goa and the untimely demise of Joe Perry on 28
August 1952, the Quintet was now reduced to a trio of musi-
cians comprising Alvito da Costa, José Gracias and Ronaldo
Coutinho. But the three musicians were far from over and a
third transformation was to take place a year later.
F OLLOWING the untimely demise of Joe Perry, their friend,
mentor and music genius, the three friends and musi-
cians, Alvito da Costa, José Gracias and Ronaldo Coutinho,
then decided to form a band as a tribute to their dear friend,
Joe Perry.
Anacleto Figueiredo recalled that a few months after he
joined the university (B.Com) as a student in Hubli-Karna-
taka in June 1952, he heard that Joe Perry had sadly passed
away in Goa.
“I was quite shocked with the news of his sad demise as
I was quite attached to Joe Perry. When I returned next to
Goa, I met Gustavo da Costa of Margão, who was on holiday
from Africa, and came to know that his brother, Alvito, was
planning to form a band with the name of ‘Joe Blues’,” said
Figueiredo.
According to a report in the A Vida (29 October 1958), a
cutting of which is preserved in The Diary, the “Joe Blues
Orchestra” was formed by Alvito da Costa, José Gracias and
Ronaldo Coutinho in Margão on 16 August 1953. As was
expected, Alvito, already an accomplished musician at the
time, became the band leader, while Ronaldo Coutinho was
the band manager and José Gracias was the secretary, three
key positions in the music organisation.
A letterhead of the group also indicates that the ‘Joe Blues
Dance Orchestra’ was led by Alvito da Costa and featured
Pascoal Antonio Fernandes on tenor sax, signifying the im-
58

portance assigned to both musicians. Besides the letter-

head, the ‘Joe Blues Dance Orchestra’ even had its own em-
bossed stamp, indicating the degree of professionalism and
organisation of the group at the time.
It is clear that the ‘Joe Blues Dance Orchestra’ had been
named in honour of their close friend and legendary musi-
cian, Joe Perry. The very next page of The Diary has a news-
paper cutting of a tribute to Joe Perry on his first death an-
niversary, which was published in the A Vida newspaper (30
August 1953).
A handwritten remark in The Diary by the side of the
newspaper cutting states: “The whole aim of this orchestra
is to pay tribute to our beloved late Joe Perry.”
When translated into English, the newspaper cutting re-
veals the following details:

Joe Perry

A year has gone by, the first, since this young gen-
tleman, in his tender age, took leave from this life,
which had been to him a painful song in its last
phase.

Remembering this date so sad, it is with a painful

nostalgia that we place on his cold grave a bou-
quet of flowers, well worthy of him whose artis-
tic talent flowered in a thousand charms, which,
when passed from his vibrant life to the musical
instrument and, through it, to his listeners, cre-
ated around his genius an aura of admiration and
friendship that does not end with the ephemeral
life of this world!
 59

He passed, as everything passes. But he did not

die, because the greats do not die. His memory
will last forever, because his blithe spirit, bound
to the Supreme Ideal of the Art, hovers above, in
the clouds, deriding the materialities of this earth.
May God have him in his glory!
Margão, 28th August 1953
An admirer.

Given that Joe Perry and many of the musicians were from
Margão, and Borda in particular, it seemed but natural that
the ‘Joe Blues Dance Orchestra’, also known by its shorter
name ‘Joe Blues’, would make its first public appearance
closer to home.
One printed letterhead neatly pasted diagonally across
the first page of The Diary confirms that ‘Joe Blues Dance
Orchestra’ made “its first public appearance on 16 August
1953, for the feast of St Joaquim Chapel, Borda-Margão.”
The musicians who performed at the band’s first show
were Alvito da Costa, Pascoal Antonio Fernandes, Antonio
Moraes, Saby, Andre Fernandes, José Gracias, Anacleto Fi-
gueiredo (guest artiste), Gustavo da Costa (guest artiste) and
Sabino Fernandes.
“Whenever I came to Goa on holiday, I used to join them
with my guitar,” recalled Anacleto Figueiredo, who was a
guest artiste in ‘Joe Blues’.
Given the fact that the whole intention of ‘Joe Blues’ was
to perpetuate the memory and music of Joe Perry, it was
no surprise that the band would often play the songs com-
posed or arranged by Joe Perry, which included ‘Dark Eyes’,
‘Fantasia de Goa’, ‘Indiana’, ‘Ecstasy’, ‘I’ll String Along’, ‘I
60

Don’t See Me’, ‘Little Birdie’, ‘Blues on Parade’, ‘Shanghai

Night’, ‘Havana Ball’, ‘Too Much Love’, etc.
What is fascinating to know is that ‘Joe Blues’ was not
only the name of a band, but it was also the name of a tune
composed and arranged by Alvito da Costa. The song ‘Joe
Blues’ is mentioned as the very first song in the repertoire
of the band recorded in The Diary.
It was initially assumed that the music for this ‘Joe Blues’
song may have been lost forever, with the demise of da Costa,
Gracias and Coutinho. Then remarkably, the music sheets
containing the musical notations for this unique tune, which
were written for multiple instruments, were found among
the hundreds of other music sheets in the Gracias House.
Given his profound musical skills, the band leader, Alvito
da Costa, went on to compose or arrange a number of tunes,
which included ‘Joe Blues’, ‘Julian Tango’, ‘Manuel dos San-
tos’, ‘Maria Dolores’, ‘Blue Tango’, ‘Baiao de Ana’, ‘Que Rico
el Mambo’, ‘Sorta on the Border’, ‘Relax’, ‘If you Smile at the
Sun’, ‘You’re Just in Love’, ‘Siboney’, ‘Vaya Con Dios’, ‘Say
You’ll Wait For Me’, ‘Estrela da Minha Vida’, ‘Casa Portuguesa’,
‘Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man’, ‘Wanted’, ‘Sway’, ‘Carta de Sol-
dado’, ‘The Day is Done’, ‘Dream Boat’, ‘Naughty Lady of
Shady Lane’, etc.
Says Ravi Coutinho, “My dad used to say that Alvito was
a brilliant musician and knew exactly what he wanted, ar-
rangement, chord work and all.”
After performing at three dances and two weddings in
Salcete, ‘Joe Blues’ played its first show outside Portuguese
Goa, when it performed at the Lingaraj College, Belgaum,
on 20 November 1953. A report in the Portuguese Diario de
Goa (23 December 1953), when translated, makes mention
 61

of this event:

The annual Lingaraj Ball organised on the 20th

November by the Goan youth was well attended.
There were three novelty dances: the most acclaim-
ed was the Candle Dance, during which the coup-
les held lit candles, protected from the draught by
a cup of coloured paper, to the sound of slow fox-
trot pieces carefully selected by Mr. Alvito Costa,
who was directing the ‘Joe Blues Band’ and en-
livening the atmosphere now and then with his
songs.
Six prizes were given away, two of which went to
siblings Angela, teaching at Adarsha High School,
Margão and her brother Abílio Pereira de Andra-
de, a student of M.Sc. in the same college.
The dancing went on till 4.30 a.m. cutting short
the general enthusiasm which remained steadily
on a crescendo. Everyone left with the best of me-
mories, especially of the Joe Blues Band, brought
from Goa and which bowled them over with the
original compositions of the much-remembered
Joe Perry, especially ‘Indiana’.

The ‘Joe Blues’ also went on to perform at the Christmas

dance ‘Festa dos Amadores’ organised by the Clube Amado-
res de Margão in 1953 and a souvenir was even published
on the occasion. While the souvenir had a few advertise-
ments, an interesting fact was that a one-page advertise-
ment paid tribute to Joe Perry and credited him as the found-
er of a club known as “Football Lovers”.
62

In the same advertisement, the club and ‘Joe Blues’ were

quite clear that the intention of their show was to perpetu-
ate the memory of Joe Perry and, therefore, had sought the
support and participation of people.
The souvenir also made mention of the repertoire of son-
gs to be performed that night. It included the song ‘Indiana’,
which was composed and arranged by Joe Perry with Pas-
coal Fernandes performing on the alto sax in the style of his
mentor, Joe Perry. Other songs to be performed were ‘Joe
Blues’ (composed and arranged by Alvito da Costa), ‘Relax’
(arranged by Alvito da Costa), ‘Vaya Con Dios’, ‘Winter Won-
derland’ (Jack Mason), ‘Two O’Clock Jump’ (composed and
arranged by Harry James, Count Basie and Benny Goodman),
‘Sorta on The Border’ (arranged by Alvito da Costa), ‘One,
Two, Three, Four Jump’ (composed and arranged by Flip
Phillips) and ‘Fantasia de Goa’ (coordinated, adapted and
arranged by Joe Perry).
The next major outstation show for ‘Joe Blues Orchestra’
was in Hubli, when The Catholic Student’s Union presented
the ‘Festival of Fantasy’ dance on the eve of Valentine’s Day,
13 February 1954. Incidentally, the event was covered in
brief by ‘O Heraldo’ (14 February 1954).
A more detailed report in the A Vida (27 February 1954)
had this to state:

Union of Catholic Students – On the 13th of this

month, the C.S.U. of Hubli had their Annual Ball
– Festival of Fantasy – to the sound of the splen-
did ‘Joe Blues’ ensemble of Margão, under the di-
rection of artist-musician Alvito da Costa, who of-
fered to the public hours of joy-filled music, leav-
 63

ing the best impressions on all, particularly on the

academic youth of Hubli.

Pascoal Fernandes won the attention of all with

his unique expertise, as he proved himself to be a
devoted disciple of the ever-remembered Joe Perry.

Our hearty congratulations to the organizers of

the Ball, especially to its Secretary, J. da Silva, our
fellow-villager. The event owes its success to his
untiring efforts.

Those who performed for ‘Joe Blues’ at the Hubli show were
Alvito da Costa, Custodio Inacio Cardozo, Pascoal A Fernan-
des, Cipriano Dourado, Damaso Gomes, Ronaldo Coutin-
ho, José Gracias, Antonio Moraes and Anacleto Figueiredo
(guest artiste).
Perhaps, the only known event when ‘Joe Blues’ perfor-
med alongside another band was on 1 March 1954, when
‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Radio Serenaders’ were the two bands in at-
tendance for a carnival dance at the ‘Hotel Aliados’ in Mar-
gão.
A few days later, Alvito da Costa’s brother, Gustavo, who
was a guest artiste with ‘Joe Blues’, left for Portuguese East
Africa and his departure by the SS Karanja even had a brief
mention in the ‘Eve’s Weekly’ published in Bombay on 4
March 1954.
Besides its full-time members, ‘Joe Blues’ also had guest
artistes such as Anacleto Figueiredo, Chris Perry and his
brother, Paul. The participation of the Perry brothers finds
mention in a brief report in the Diario de Goa (although it
is unclear when and where this show took place). When
64

translated into English, the newspaper cutting reveals the

following details:

Arrivals & Departures:

Proceeding from Calcutta, the Perry brothers ar-
rived in this town (Margão) and during their stay
here, will take part in ‘Joe Blues’ orchestra.

Incidentally, Chris and Paul Perry are known to have per-

formed with ‘Joe Blues’ at a few shows in 1954. The Di-
ary records that Chris and Paul Perry had both performed
with ‘Joe Blues’ for six shows, a wedding in Cortalim (5 May
1954), wedding in Carmona (6 May 1954), dance in Chicalim
(8 May 1954), wedding in Panjim (13 May 1954), dance in
Benaulim (22 May 1954) and a wedding in Margão (2 June
1954).
That Chris Perry kept in touch with musicians of ‘Joe Blues’
is evident from the fact that he would regularly send them
photos and souvenirs of his various performances across
the country.
Over a period of nine months between 16 August 1953
and 3 June 1954, ‘Joe Blues’ went on to perform at 31 shows.
The band played for 16 dances beginning with its first
show in Borda on 16 August 1953, followed by dances in
Sirlim-Salcete (4 October 1953), Clube de Margão (7 Novem-
ber 1953), Lingaraj College, Belgaum (20 November 1953),
Clube Vasco de Gama, Panjim (24 November 1953), Club
A.B.C, Margão (8 December 1953), Festa dos Amadores at
Hotel Aliados, Margão (25 December 1953), ‘Casino’ at Vasco
(31 December 1953), Hotel Aliados (1 January 1954), Catholic
Student’s Union, Hubli (13 February 1954), Hotel Aliados (1
 65

March 1954), Hotel Aliados (2 March 1954), Telaulim, Nave-

lim (18 April 1954), Cuncolim (30 April 1954), Chicalim (8
May 1954) and Benaulim (22 May 1954).
The band also performed at 13 weddings, wedding re-
turn events and parties in Margão (10 October 1953), Ma-
jorda (25 October 1953), Royal Hotel (12 December 1953),
Varca (1 January 1954), Raia (19 January 1954), Benaulim
(16 February 1954), Assolna (25 and 26 February 1954), Cor-
talim (5 May 1954), Carmona (6 May 1954), Panjim (13 May
1954), Margão (2 June 1954) and Navelim (3 June 1954).
The ‘Joe Blues’ also performed at a broadcast over ‘Radio
Goa’ in Panjim (23 November 1953) and a programme for
‘Microfone Municipal’ at Margão (5 December 1953).
The musicians, in particular, Alvito da Costa, Ronaldo
Coutinho and José Gracias, were to experience a fourth trans-
formation, barely three days after their last performance at
a wedding return show in Navelim on 3 June 1954.
H AVING performed at 31 shows within and outside Goa
for a little over nine months, the musicians decided
to change the band’s name from ‘Joe Blues Orchestra’ to
‘Music Lovers’ on 6 June 1954. While the reason for this
change in name is unclear, there is a belief that this deci-
sion may have had something to do with some reservations
over use of ‘Joe’ in the name of the band ‘Joe Blues’.
In any case, for these friends, music had been a passion,
not a business. Hence, a change in band name and that
too, within only nine months of its formation, would hardly
make much of a difference. After all, they had come to-
gether for mainly one purpose: to preserve and promote
the musical legacy of their friend and mentor, Joe Perry.
It then seemed but natural for these lovers of music that
the new band would simply be known as ‘Music Lovers.’
There are some who believe that Alvito da Costa had pro-
vided the name for the band.
It is, however, fascinating to know that the name ‘Mu-
sic Lovers’ had been a term associated with a certain Perry,
three years before this name was formally adopted by the
band based in Margão.
A research into ‘Concanim (Goan) Recordings’ by Ross
Laird who is based in Australia in 2005 reveals a list of rare
music by Goan singers and musicians which had been re-
corded on vinyls by HMV. In particular, one entry in that list
states, ‘PERRY AND HIS MUSIC LOVERS (Calcutta, 1951),
 67

and reference is made to two recordings, ‘ Vepar’ (OJW-1412-

1, HMV N9602) and ‘Tra-Li’ (OJW-1445-1, HMV N9602).
It is unclear at this point in time if this “Perry” refers to
Joe Perry or Chris Perry. Joe is believed to have returned
to Goa sometime in 1951-52 and it is quite possible that he
may have recorded ‘Vepar’ and ‘Tra-Li’ shortly before mov-
ing to Goa to recuperate on account of ill-health.
This Perry could also refer to Joe’s younger brother, Chris
Perry, as Chris had been performing along with his band in
Calcutta in 1953 and 1954. But what is more fascinating is
the fact that ‘Joe Blues’ had changed to that very name ‘Mu-
sic Lovers’ barely three years after it may have been associ-
ated with one of the two Perry brothers.
As mentioned earlier, Chris and Paul Perry had also per-
formed with ‘Joe Blues’ and had been closely known to key
members of the band. Could Chris Perry have influenced
members of ‘Joe Blues’ to change the name to ‘Music Lovers’,
a band which may have been previously associated with
him or his elder brother?
While there is no way of confirming these details, the de-
cision to rename the band to ‘Music Lovers’ was solemnly
recorded in The Diary:
From JOE BLUES to MUSIC LOVERS,
With great pleasure, we the musicians from JOE
BLUES ORCHESTRA having gathered this sixth day
of June 1954 entirely agree that the band should
be known henceforth as MUSIC LOVERS keeping
the rules and regulations as laid down before.

Sd/- Alvito da Costa, band leader

Margão, 6 June 1954.
68

It is unknown what exactly were these “rules and regula-

tions” of ‘Music Lovers’, but it is fairly clear that this band
had a great aspiration to become an organisation for lovers
of music. Which, again, is probably why the band was called
‘Music Lovers’. That this band was more than just a definite
number of musicians is evident as ‘Music Lovers’ had the in-
volvement of as many as 37 musicians at different periods,
indicating the sheer number and depth of the participation,
though only a few of them would perform at any one given
show.
“My father, Ronaldo, always maintained that the mem-
bers were very strict when it came to chord structures and
arrangements, and they were fun-loving members who wo-
uld hang around at each other’s homes,” said Ravi Coutinho.
The professionalism associated with ‘Music Lovers’ was
also evident from the following letter that the band leader,
Alvito da Costa, wrote to bandmate, Pedro Santana Fernan-
des, on the band’s letterhead on 10 May 1955, intimating
him about a show in Majorda.

Dear Pedro Santana,

You must be knowing that we got an engagement

at Quepem on the 15th inst. It is only yesterday
that we got another engagement to be played at
Majorda, starting at 6 pm on 14th.

So please come without fail to Pascoal’s place at

4.30 pm so that you both may come together for
the show. Or else, you may come directly to Ma-
jorda, in this case you’ll have to be present at least
at 5 pm.
 69

Hope you are O.K. The dress is “ad lib” but you
better use one full suit with a maroon bow.

Thank you

Your sincerely,
Alvito da Costa

This letter has been preserved in the residence of Pedro San-

tana and was kindly made available for this project by his
son, Mercy Fernandes.
Incidentally, Alvito had referred to the two shows, a wed-
ding at Majorda (14 May) and a dance at Quepem (15 May).
Given that Pascoal and Pedro were related, Alvito suggested
that Pedro (who resided in Assolna) could proceed to Pas-
coal’s place (Pedda-Benaulim), from where they could then
proceed to Majorda.
As with ‘Joe Blues’, ‘Music Lovers’ also had a few guest
artistes performing with the band, as and when they were
in Goa. One such musician was Damask (also known as
Damaso) Braganza of Majorda, who played the trumpet with
the Ken Mac orchestra.
Damask Braganza had performed as a guest artiste for
‘Joe Blues’ at the Microfone Municipal show at Margão (5
December 1953) and at a dance in the ABC Club, Margão
(8 December 1953). He is also believed to have performed
with ‘Music Lovers’ at another Microfone Municipal show
in Margão (2 March 1958).
A brief note in the A Vida newspaper makes mention of
this guest artiste with ‘Music Lovers’ on 11 May 1958. When
translated into English, the newspaper cutting reveals the
following details:
70

Proceeding from Indian Union, Mr Damask Bra-

gança is in his house at Majorda. This famous
trumpet player of ‘Ken Mac’ orchestra who, dur-
ing his stay in Goa, will form part of ‘Music Lovers’
orchestra of this town (Margão).

As guest artiste, Damask Braganza joined ‘Music Lovers’ for

another show on 25 May 1958. A brief note in the Diario
de Goa newspaper makes mention of this guest artiste with
‘Music Lovers’ on 21 May 1958 and an English translation of
the report reveals the following details:

Dance at the ABC Club on 25 May 1958 to cele-

brate the feast of the Holy Spirit with the known
orchestra ‘Music Lovers’ reinforced with presence
of Damask Bragança of the famous “Ken Mac” or-
chestra of Bombay.

A photo of the Ken Mac orchestra with Damask Braganza

performing with his trumpet is preserved in The Diary.
By 1959, Damask Braganza seems to have started play-
ing for Norman Mobsby’s orchestra. A photo of Norman
Mobsby’s orchestra performing at the Magnolia Soda Foun-
tain at Park Street in Calcutta on 30 April 1959 has been pre-
served in The Diary.
The back of the photo contains the signatures of Patricia
Tarley (crooner), Norman Mobsby (tenor sax), Damask Bra-
ganza (trumpet), Dorothy Jones (piano), Robin Jones (dru-
ms) and E Dixon (bass). It appears Braganza may have sent
the autographed photo of the Norman Mobsby’s orchestra
to his friend, José Gracias, as a memento.
 71

Such was the fluid nature of ‘Music Lovers’ that apart

from a few regular players, many musicians joined the band
and performed at shows as and when they were in Goa.
Even the band leader, Alvito da Costa, must have been
in and out of Goa during the mid-1950s. According to close
friends, Alvito married Audrey Vida, an Anglo-Indian singer
at a club in Calcutta.
What is interesting is that this marriage had been solem-
nised at a church not in Goa or in the music hubs of Bom-
bay, Delhi or even Calcutta for that matter. According to
Alvito da Costa’s baptismal record at the Holy Spirit Church
in Margão, Alvito and Audrey were married on 6 August 1957
at a church in a remote corner of India: Kashmir.
As mentioned earlier, among the accomplished music-
ians in ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’ were Alvito da Costa
of Borda-Margão and Pascoal Antonio Fernandes of Pedda-
Benaulim.
A disciple of Joe Perry, Pascoal’s musical skills with the
alto sax, tenor sax and clarinet were being recognised even
before he was part of the two bands. He had been part of
the band led by Chris Perry in Bombay, where he is believed
to have attained great fame and popularity.
“My grandmother, Caroline Baptista, provided us very
few details about her husband, other than the fact that he
had played for Chris Perry’s band in Bombay,” recalled Vel-
lon Fernandes, grandson of Pascoal Antonio Fernandes.
Pascoal then returned to Goa and joined ‘Joe Blues’. Whi-
le still only 21 years, Pascoal was already known for his mu-
sical abilities and this was already evident during a perfor-
mance with ‘Joe Blues’ in Hubli on 13 February 1954.
In a report in the A Vida (27 February 1954), Pascoal was
72

described as having “won the attention of all with his unique

expertise, as he proved himself to be a devoted disciple of the
ever-remembered Joe Perry.”
This must have been some achievement for Pascoal, es-
pecially since he was performing under the leadership of
another accomplished musician, Alvito da Costa, and seven
other musicians at the show.
Pascoal was a regular band member, performing at the
very first show of ‘Joe Blues’ on 16 August 1953 and going
on with ‘Music Lovers’ till September 1958. Incidentally,
Pascoal was related to the wife of another bandmate, Pedro
Santana Fernandes.
Then, tragedy struck ‘Music Lovers’ when Pascoal Anto-
nio Fernandes suddenly passed away on 22 October 1958 at
the young age of 26 years.
“Regarding my grandfather’s untimely death, she (the gra-
ndmother, Pascoal’s widow) had also told us that my grand-
father had returned home from a late-night show (21-22
October 1958) with a band, when he became very ill and
passed away a short while later,” said Vellon Fernandes.
That show is unlikely to have been with ‘Music Lover’s
since their last show recorded in The Diary was at a wed-
ding on 14 October 1958, eight days before his death. It
is possible that Pascoal may have played for another band
that fateful night on 21-22 October 1958, as it was not un-
common at the time for musicians to be guest artistes with
other bands.
What made Pascoal’s demise even more tragic for the
Fernandes family was that Pascoal’s wife, Caroline Baptista,
had been six months pregnant with their second child, when
her husband departed from the world.
 73

Manuel Fernandes, son of Pascoal’s younger brother, José

Filipe, had only a few memories of his famed uncle.
“Sadly, I never met him as I was born in Kampala and
the first time we came down for a holiday was in 1967, nine
years after his demise. He had passed away many years be-
fore I was born,” said Manuel, a founder member in 1989 of
the band ‘Crossroads’ in Goa.
“According to my father, Pascoal came home late one
night after a show, burning with fever, and while they waited
for a car to come to take him to the doctor, he passed away.”
A tribute published in the A Vida newspaper (29 October
1958), when translated into English, had this to state:

Pascoal Antonio Fernandes

The news of the passing away of this well-known

cultivator of the musical art at the tender age of
26 caused a most profound general consternation
and pain.

On the 27th of the past month Pascoal was seen

playing for a wedding in this city; little did any-
one expect that he would leave this illusion-filled
world in less than 30 days! But then, these are
the designs of Providence! Pascoal, who was a dis-
ciple of Joe Perry – that other unfortunate musi-
cian of this city who had left this world also very
young, with 28 years of age – went to the Indian
Union, where he played saxophone in a popular
band led by Chris Perry, Joe Perry’s brother, con-
quering great fame and popularity, particularly am-
ong the Goan youth of that city.
74

Returning to Goa, Pascoal joined the Joe Blues Ba-

nd of this city, founded on August 16, 1953, which,
on June 6, 1954, took the name of ‘Music Lovers’.
Here he perfected himself in his art in such a way
that it was a delight to listen to him, especially
playing ‘Indiana’, based on the signature tune of
the All India Radio and composed and arranged
by Joe Perry. He was indeed the only one who
played this piece in Goa. Besides being a musi-
cian who made a mark, young Pascoal had many
other qualities that endeared him greatly to those
who knew him.
It was for this very reason that his death was greatly
mourned and his funeral had a huge attendance.
Various priests, many confrades and hundreds of
people attended the same and Fr Antonio Sequeira,
the local Parish Priest, officiated at the last rites.
The members of ‘Music Lovers’ were all there and
placed on his grave a wreath with their last em-
brace.
Condolences to the bereaved!

Going by the above account in A Vida, it appears that Pas-

coal honed his musical skills under his mentor, Joe Perry.
Sadly, both master and disciple were never destined to ac-
hieve their peak and passed away in their 20s and one can
only imagine their journey to musical fame were they to
have lived longer.
An obituary card distributed at the Requiem Mass to mark
the Month’s Month of Pascoal Fernandes, which was pre-
served in the house of José Gracias, revealed that Pascoal
 75

Antonio Fernandes of Pedda-Benaulim was born on 11 April

1932 and passed away on 22 October 1958. The Requiem
Mass on 22 November 1958 had been offered by his wife,
mother and brother. Incidentally, the photo of Pascoal pos-
ing along with his beloved saxophone on the obituary card
was identical to the one in The Diary.
To mark the death anniversary of their friend and de-
parted bandmate, the musicians of ‘Music Lovers’ offered
a Requiem Mass for the soul of Pascoal Antonio Fernandes
at the Grace Church in Margão at 7.15 am on 29 October
1959.
As ‘Music Lovers’, the band went on to play for 137 shows
over the next nine years, consisting of weddings and wed-
ding return events, dances and other shows, but the band’s
most prolific period was between 1956 and 1958, when the
band performed at 105 of these 137 shows.
While most shows were performed in different parts of
Salcete, ‘Music Lovers’ also travelled the length and breadth
of Goa, performing in the talukas of Bardez, Mormugão, Que-
pem, Canacona and Tiswadi. Such was the popularity of
‘Music Lovers’ that the band even performed at two shows
– two weddings or two dances — on the same day.
To have performed at the New Year’s Eve dance at the
prestigious Hotel Mandovi in Panjim on 31 December 1956
must have been an honour for ‘Music Lovers’. The event
was even advertised in the Diario de Goa newspaper, spec-
ifying the band ‘Music Lovers’, the timing from 10.30 pm,
entrance fee of Rs 5 for gents, Rs 2 for students and free en-
try for women, the nature of attire and rights to admission.
The Diary records details of 137 shows performed by ‘Mu-
sic Lovers’ (See SESSION 19: THE STAGE for the complete
76

list of shows) between 1954 and 1963. Their first show in

1954 was a dance at Telaulim (date not known), while the
last known show of ‘Music Lovers’ was on 7 February 1963.
During this period, ‘Music Lovers’ performed 3 shows
(1954), 14 shows (1955), 22 shows (1956), 38 shows (1957),
45 shows (1958), 5 shows (1959), 4 shows (1960), 1 show
(1961), 3 shows (1962) and 2 shows (1963).
‘Music Lovers’ performed at various events, including wed-
dings, wedding returns, dances, concerts, programmes, par-
ties and birthday parties.
An interesting entry in The Diary reveals that the band
played even at the “First Mass of P. Silva on 3 May 1956.”
My inquiry led me to identify this “Padre” Silva as late Fr
Victor Miguel Heliodoro da Piedade Silva, a diocesan priest
hailing from Borda-Margão, who had been ordained a few
days earlier (22 April).
Of interest is the fact that Fr da Silva was from the house
by the side of the residence of ‘Music Lovers’ band manager,
Ronaldo Coutinho, in Borda-Margão.
The last known show of ‘Music Lovers’ was on 7 February
1963 and it is unclear if the band performed at any other
show after that or if the band and organisation simply came
to an end.
It was clear that at some point in time, Alvito da Costa
proceeded to perform in New Delhi. A photo of him with
his saxophone with the handwritten caption “ With compli-
ments from (the) former band leader of ‘Music Lovers’ sent
from Delhi” is preserved in The Diary.
A S mentioned earlier, ‘Joe Blues’, which was subsequently
renamed to ‘Music Lovers’, was not just a band of mu-
sicians, but it was an organisation with the involvement and
participation of as many as 37 musicians, represented by a
band leader, manager and secretary.
While only a few of them would perform at any one given
show, the sheer size of the association was probably to en-
sure that one set of musicians was always available at any
given show.
A section in The Diary provides details of all “the artistes
who took part in the band”. As many as 37 musicians per-
formed at different shows for ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’
between 1953 and 1963. The musicians and their contribu-
tion to the band, in the order exactly specified in The Diary,
are as follows:

1. BAND LEADER: Alvito da Costa of Borda-Margão

(arranger, composer, saxophone, guitar, violin and
vocals)
2. BAND MANAGER: Ronaldo Coutinho of
Borda-Margão (guitar and vocals)
3. BAND SECRETARY: José Gracias of Borda-Margão
(guitar and vocals)
4. TENOR MAN: Pascoal Antonio Fernandes of
Pedda-Benaulim (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone,
clarinet)
78

5. LEAD ALTO: Saby Dias (alto saxophone, tenor

saxophone, violin)
6. ALTO MAN: Custodio Inacio Cardozo of Rachol (alto
saxophone, clarinet, violin)
7. TENOR MAN: Sebastião Batista (tenor saxophone,
violin)
8. HORN MAN: Luis C Batista of Pedda-Benaulim
(arranger, trumpet, violin)
9. HORN MAN: Antonio Moraes of Pulwaddo-Benaulim
(trumpet)
10. DRUMMER: Andre Fernandes of Maddel-Margão
(drums, trumpet)
11. DRUMMER: Damaso Gomes of Navelim (drums)
12. BASS: Sabino Fernandes (bass, trumpet)
13. BASS: Piedade Santana Fernandes (bass, French horn)
14. TRUMPET: Cipriano Dourado of Utorda (violin,
trumpet)
15. TROMBONE: Lawrence Luis of Shiroda (trombone,
violin, arranger, composer)
16. ALTO MAN: Pedro Santana Fernandes of Assolna (alto
saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinet)
17. ALTO MAN: Cajetan Vas of Ilha de Rachol (alto
saxophone, clarinet)
18. ALTO MAN: Paul Perry of Povoação-Margão (alto sax,
vocals, arranger)
19. HORN MAN: Chris Perry of Povoação-Margão
(trumpet, saxophone, drums, arranger, composer)
20. TENOR MAN: Tony D’Cruz (saxophone)
21. ALTO MAN: S Fernandes (saxophone)
 79

22. DRUMMER: Andre Santiago of Unjirim-Curtorim

(drums)
23. TENOR MAN: Salema (saxophone)
24. HORN MAN: Teotonio Fernandes (trumpet)
25. TENOR MAN: Tony Rodrigues (saxophone, violin,
vocals, arranger, composer)
26. HORN MAN: Remigio Fernandes (trumpet, drums)
27. TENOR MAN: Sebastião da Veiga of Maina-Curtorim
(saxophone, violin)
28. ALTO MAN: Marcelino Fernandes (saxophone)
29. ALTO MAN: Casmiro Lobo of Ambora (saxophone)
30. TENOR MAN: Peter Lobo of Ambora (saxophone)
31. HORN MAN: Saby (trumpet)
32. ALTO MAN: John Rodrigues (saxophone)
33. GUEST ARTISTE: Gustavo da Costa (accordion,
guitar)
34. GUEST ARTISTE: Anacleto Figueiredo of Margão
(guitar, violin, cello, bass)
35. GUEST ARTISTE: Damask (Damaso) Braganza of
Majorda (arranger, trumpet, violin, piano)
36. GUEST ARTISTE: Ignatius Fernandes of Benaulim
(trumpet, band leader)

In addition to this list of 36 musicians, there is another mu-

sician, Camilo Vas of Rachol, who also performed with ‘Mu-
sic Lovers’ for at least one show, a wedding in Margão, on
11 November 1962.
Rafael Viegas (90) of Curtorim had fond recollections of
a number of musicians from ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’.
80

“I studied along with Anacleto in the primary school near

his house and later during our matriculation at Loyola High
School, Margão, in 1952. Anacleto was from a family of
gifted musicians and everyone in his house could play in-
struments. It was like a full band in the house.”
“After my father passed away in 1946, my family moved
to Curtorim, but I stayed in guest houses in Margão and
would be in close contact with a number of people in the
town, including many musicians from your project,” recalled
Viegas.
Viegas recalled memories of his association with my fat-
her-in-law, José Gracias, as fellow students of Loyola High
School in 1952, of their trip to answer matriculation exams
at Elphinstone College in Bombay and years later, their meet-
ings in the building opposite the Margão Municipal Coun-
cil.
“I knew Ronaldo Coutinho and his brother, Vivian, since
they were residing in Borda-Margão and besides, I used to
meet them while travelling by train to Vasco, where we used
to work.”
“The drummer, Andre Santiago, was a bachelor who lived
barely 100 metres from my house in Unjirim-Curtorim. We
used to call him ‘Andru Irmao’ and he would practice drums
at his house. The band was in big demand and they would
play at wedding receptions and dances at the time.”
“Andru Irmao was a very helpful person. On one occa-
sion when I accidentally fell off a tree on 8 January 1940,
Andre Irmao cycled from Curtorim to Margão to convey the
news to my father, who was residing along with my mother,
who was pregnant at the time. I subsequently recovered on
22 January.”
 81

“Sebastião da Veiga of Maina-Curtorim was a musician

who could play a number of instruments like the saxophone,
trumpet, violin, etc. He would perform in Delhi, Bangalore
and elsewhere. I knew Sebastião well since his sister was
married to a gentleman who resided in front of my house
and Sebastião would frequently visit his sister. In fact, Se-
bastião would play the violin at litanies in my house.”
“Alvito and Gustavo da Costa were known to me, as their
father was from Curtorim. While in Simla, Alvito met an
Anglo-Indian girl and subsequently married her.”
“I also knew Custodio Cardozo since he had married the
cousin of my friend and I remember him as a musician who
played in Bangalore.”
Many of these 37 musicians were frequent members of
‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’, while some others were ei-
ther occasional members or guest artistes. As can be seen,
quite a few of these musicians were versatile with different
instruments.
Only a few of these musicians would perform at any one
given show and The Diary has another section mentioning
the participation of different musicians at 32 such shows for
‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’:
1. Dance at Borda-Margão (16 August 1953): Alvito da
Costa, Pascoal Antonio Fernandes, Antonio Moraes, Saby,
Andre Fernandes, José Gracias, Anacleto Figueiredo (guest
artiste), Gustavo da Costa (guest artiste) and Sabino Fer-
nandes.
2. Dance at Sirlim-Salcete (4 October 1953): Alvito da
Costa, Pascoal Antonio Fernandes, Custodio Cardozo, Luis
Baptista, Antonio Moraes, Damaso Gomes and José Gracias.
3. Wedding at Margão (10 October 1953): Custodio Car-
82

dozo, Alvito da Costa, Pascoal A Fernandes, Luis Baptista,

Antonio Moraes, Damaso Gomes and Gustavo da Costa (gu-
est artiste).
4. Wedding at Majorda (25 October 1953): Custodio Car-
dozo, Pascoal A Fernandes, Alvito da Costa, Luis Baptista,
Antonio Moraes, Damaso Gomes and José Gracias.
5. Dance at Clube Harmonia, Margão (7 November 1953):
Alvito da Costa, Pascoal A Fernandes, Custodio Inacio Car-
dozo, Antonio Moraes, Luis Baptista, José Gracias, Anacleto
Figueiredo (guest artiste) and Damaso Gomes.
6. Dance at Lingaraj College, Belgaum (20 November
1953): Alvito da Costa, Pascoal A Fernandes, Custodio Ina-
cio Cardozo, Luis Baptista, Antonio Moraes, Damaso Gomes,
Piedade Santana Fernandes, José Gracias and Anacleto Fi-
gueiredo (guest artiste).
7. Broadcast over ‘Radio Goa’ at Panjim (23 November
1953): Alvito da Costa, Custodio Cardozo, Pascoal A Fernan-
des, Luis Baptista, Antonio Moraes, Damaso Gomes, Piedade
Santana Fernandes, Ronaldo Coutinho and José Gracias.
8. Dance ‘Escola Normal’ and concert at Club Vasco da
Gama, Panjim (24 November 1953): Alvito da Costa, Custo-
dio Cardozo, Pascoal A Fernandes, Luis Baptista, Antonio
Moraes, Damaso Gomes, Piedade Santana Fernandes, José
Gracias, Ronaldo Coutinho and Gustavo da Costa (guest art-
iste).
9. Programme ‘Microfone Municipal’ at Margão (5 De-
cember 1953): Damask Braganza (guest artiste), Alvito da
Costa, Pascoal A Fernandes, Damaso Gomes and Ronaldo
Coutinho.
10. Dance at ABC Club, Margão (8 December 1953): Da-
mask Braganza (guest artiste), Antonio Moraes, Alvito da
 83

Costa, Pascoal A Fernandes, Custodio I Cardozo, Damaso

Gomes, José Gracias and Ronaldo Coutinho.
11. Party in honour of Adv Martinho Fernandes at Royal
Hotel, Margão (12 December 1953): Alvito da Costa, Pas-
coal A Fernandes, Antonio Moraes, Damaso Gomes, Ronaldo
Coutinho and José Gracias.
12. Festa de Amadores dance at the Hotel Aliados in Mar-
gão (25 December 1953): Alvito da Costa, Pascoal A Fernan-
des, Antonio Moraes, Custodio Inacio Cardozo, Cipriano
Dourado, Damaso Gomes, José Gracias and Ronaldo Cou-
tinho.
13. Dance at ‘Casino’ in Vasco from 9 pm onwards (31
December 1953): Alvito da Costa, Pascoal A Fernandes, Cus-
todio Inacio Cardozo, Cipriano Dourado, Antonio Moraes,
Damaso Gomes, Ronaldo Coutinho, José Gracias, Piedade
Fernandes, Anacleto Figueiredo (guest artiste) and Gustavo
da Costa (guest artiste).
14. Dance at Hotel Aliados, Margão (1 January 1954):
Alvito da Costa, Custodio Inacio Cardozo, Pascoal A Fernan-
des, Antonio Moraes, Cipriano Dourado, Damaso Gomes,
Ronaldo Coutinho, José Gracias and Gustavo da Costa (guest
artiste).
15. Wedding at Varca (10 January 1954): Alvito da Costa,
Custodio Inacio Cardozo, Pascoal A Fernandes, Antonio Mo-
raes, Cipriano Dourado, Damaso Gomes and José Gracias.
16. Unidentified event (19 January 1954): Alvito da Costa,
Custodio Inacio Cardozo, Pascoal A Fernandes, Cipriano Do-
urado, Damaso Gomes and José Gracias and Antonio Moraes.
17. Dance at Hubli (13 February 1954 at 9.30 pm): Alvito
da Costa, Custodio Inacio Cardozo, Pascoal A Fernandes,
Cipriano Dourado, Damaso Gomes, Ronaldo Coutinho, José
84

Gracias, Antonio Moraes and Anacleto Figueiredo (guest art-

iste).
18. Wedding at Pedda-Benaulim (16 February 1954): Pas-
coal Fernandes, Custodio I Cardozo, Damaso Gomes, Anto-
nio Moraes and José Gracias.
19. Wedding at Assolna (25 February 1954 at 10 pm): Pas-
coal Fernandes, Custodio I Cardozo, Antonio Moraes, Da-
maso Gomes and José Gracias.
20. Wedding return at Assolna (26 February 1954 at 12
noon): Pascoal Fernandes, Custodio I Cardozo, Antonio Mo-
raes, Damaso Gomes and José Gracias.
21. Dance at Hotel Aliados, Margão (1 March 1954 at 9
pm): Pascoal A Fernandes, Custodio Inacio Cardozo, Cipri-
ano Dourado, Lawrence Luis, Damaso Gomes, José Gracias,
Ronaldo Coutinho, Pedro Santana Fernandes and Anacleto
Figueiredo (guest artiste).
22. Dance at Hotel Aliados, Margão (2 March 1954 at 8
pm): Custodio Inacio Cardozo, Pascoal A Fernandes, Cipri-
ano Dourado, Lawrence Luis, Cajetan Vas, Damaso Gomes,
José Gracias, Ronaldo Coutinho and Anacleto Figueiredo
(guest artiste).
23. Easter Ball at Telaulim (18 April 1954): Pascoal A Fer-
nandes, Custodio I Cardozo, Cajetan Vas, Lawrence Luis,
Antonio Moraes and Damaso Gomes.
24. Dance at Cuncolim (30 April 1954): Alvito da Costa,
Custodio I Cardozo, Pascoal A Fernandes, Lawrence Luis,
Antonio Moraes, Damaso Gomes and José Gracias.
25. Wedding at L’ Amar, Cortalim (5 May 1954): Alvito
da Costa, Custodio I Cardozo, Paul Perry, Pascoal Fernan-
des, Antonio Moraes, Chris Perry, Damaso Gomes, Ronaldo
Coutinho and José Gracias.
 85

26. Wedding at Carmona (6 May 1954): Alvito da Costa,

Custodio I Cardozo, Paul Perry, Chris Perry, Lawrence Luis,
Damaso Gomes and José Gracias.
27. Dance at Chicalim (8 May 1954): Paul Perry, Pascoal
Fernandes, Chris Perry, Damaso Gomes, Ronaldo Coutinho
and Anacleto Figueiredo.
28. Wedding at Panjim (13 May 1954): Paul Perry, Cus-
todio I Cardozo, Pascoal Fernandes, Chris Perry, Damaso
Gomes, Ronaldo Coutinho and José Gracias.
29. Dance at Benaulim (22 May 1954): Custodio I Car-
dozo, Pascoal Fernandes, Paul Perry, Tony D’Cruz, Chris Per-
ry, Damaso Gomes, Ronaldo Coutinho and José Gracias.
30. Wedding at Margão (2 June 1954): Custodio I Car-
dozo, Paul Perry, Tony D’Cruz, Chris Perry, Damaso Gomes,
Anacleto Figueiredo and José Gracias.
31. Wedding return at Navelim (3 June 1954): Alvito da
Costa, Cajetan (Cajy) Vas, Tony D’Cruz, Cipriano Dourado,
Damaso Gomes and José Gracias.
32. Wedding Return at Raia (21 February 1955): Alvito da
Costa, Custodio I Cardozo, Pascoal Fernandes, Cajetan Vas,
Cipriano Dourado, Damaso Gomes and José Gracias.
The ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’ performed at shows in
the Hotel Aliados, ABC Club in Margão and Casino in Vasco,
all prominent venues for dances and shows at the time.
According to Valmiki Faleiro, Hotel Aliados and ABC Club
were both at Abade Faria Road in Margão.
“Hotel Aliados, on the left as one comes down the Abade
Faria Road has been reconstructed as Aliados Building just
past Gomant Vidya Niketan Building. A little down the road,
to the right, is ABC Club,” said Faleiro, adding that both
86

clubs were situated on the first floor of the respective build-

ings.”
The ‘Casino’ was an elite club in Vasco at the time and
its New Year’s Ball was a prestigious event. The ‘Casino’ is
now in ruins and is located near the Civil & Criminal Courts
building in Vasco.
I T is interesting to note that ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’
were not just cover bands performing music of other lead-
ing musicians and orchestras of the time, but they also play-
ed some original compositions and arrangements across
different genres of music.
The Diary contains a list containing 133 songs which were
performed by the musicians, many of which consisted of
music composed or arranged by Joe Perry and Alvito da Cos-
ta.
The music composed or arranged by the band leader Al-
vito da Costa included ‘Joe Blues’, ‘Julian Tango’, ‘Manuel
dos Santos’, ‘Maria Dolores’, ‘Blue Tango’, ‘Baiao de Ana’, ‘Que
Rico el Mambo’, ‘Sorta on the Border’, ‘Relax’, ‘If You Smile
at the Sun’, ‘You’re Just in Love’, ‘Siboney’, ‘Vaya Con Dios’,
‘Say You’ll Wait for Me’, ‘Estrela da Minha Vida’, ‘Casa Por-
tuguesa’, ‘Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man’, ‘Wanted’, ‘Sway’, ‘Carta
de Soldado’, ‘The Day is Done’, ‘Dream Boat’ and ‘Naughty
Lady of Shady Lane’.
True to their mission of perpetuating the memory and
music of Joe Perry, the two bands would also perform songs
composed or arranged by Joe Perry, which included ‘Dark
Eyes’, ‘Fantasia de Goa’, ‘Indiana’, ‘Ecstacy’, ‘I’ll String Along’,
‘I Don’t See Me’, ‘Little Birdie’, ‘Blues on Parade’, ‘Shanghai
Night’, ‘Havana Ball’ and ‘Too Much Love’.
In addition, the two bands also performed songs com-
posed or arranged by Frank D’Souza, which included ‘My
88

Blue Heaven’, ‘That’s the Moon’, ‘My Son’ and ‘In the Mid-
dle of Nowhere’.
Besides, the musicians did not hesitate to experiment
and blend classical music with swing music. In 1952, for in-
stance, while the Quintet musicians were still in their twen-
ties, Joe Perry, Alvito da Costa, Anacleto Figueiredo, José
Gracias and Ronaldo Coutinho presented ‘Tuna Swing,’ wh-
ich was actually the Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 of Liszt in
the swing style.
The musicians also performed the hits composed, arran-
ged or performed by the greats of the time and the reper-
toire, which is also mentioned in The Diary, includes ‘All of
Me’ (Benny Carter), ‘Sway’ (Dean Martin), ‘A Kiss to Build a
Dream On’ (Louis Armstrong), ‘In the Mood’ (Glenn Miller),
‘Caravan’ (Duke Ellington), ‘Harlem’ (Duke Ellington), ‘Bu-
gle Call’ (Jimmy Dale), ‘Wang Wang Blues’, ‘Atlantic Jive’ (Ha-
rry Roy), ‘Stompin’ at the Savoy’ (Spud Murphy), ‘Artistry
in Rhythm’ (Stan Kenton), ‘Hamp’s Boogie Woogie’ (Lionel
Hampton), ‘Two O’Clock Jump’ (Will Hudson), ‘Along the
Navajo Trail’ (Albert Sack), ‘Estrela Da Minha Vida’, ‘Perfidia’,
‘Casa Portuguesa’, ‘Say Si Si’, ‘The Naughty Lady of Shady
Lane’, ‘Siboney’ and ‘Baião de Ana’.
Some of these songs are still being performed by bands
here in Goa, seven decades after they were also performed
by ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’. Incidentally, one of the
songs they performed was ‘Symphony’, a befitting depic-
tion of the band and this project.
G IVEN the long list of musicians who performed with
‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’, it seemed but natural
that music sheets for specific and different instruments to
the various songs had to be sourced, prepared, copied and
made available to the different musicians who were to per-
form at any given show.
In some cases, the musicians of ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music
Lovers’ had the original music sheets to cover songs sent
to them from abroad. Music sheets to cover songs were
also handwritten, possibly copied from the original. Music
sheets to a few such cover songs were copied and attested
by Custodio Inacio Cardozo at Bangalore in May 1944. Eight
years later, Cardozo went on to play the alto saxophone,
clarinet and violin for ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’.
As far as original compositions and arrangements by Joe
Perry, Alvito da Costa and other Goan musicians were con-
cerned, handwritten notations would be made using blank
music sheets sourced from the ‘Pedro Fernandes and Sons’
music shop in Panjim.
These handwritten music sheets would then be usually
attested and signed at the end, either by the composer or ar-
ranger himself or the person writing or copying the music
sheets for other instruments and musicians.
José Gracias had written or copied many of the music
sheets, while a few music sheets were also written by Ro-
naldo Coutinho’s brother, Vivian, with their respective sig-
90

natures at the end of the music sheet. This may have been
probably to authenticate the transcription or to ascribe re-
sponsibility and accountability in case of any error in the
transcribed notations.
“My father often mentioned how many bands in that era
didn’t put in much effort or time in writing down proper
chords or scores, unlike the musicians in ‘Joe Blues’ and
‘Music Lovers’ who were very detailed and meticulous in
how they wrote their music sheets,” recalled Ronaldo’s son,
Ravi Coutinho.
It also implied that all musicians in ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Mu-
sic Lovers’ were competent enough to read sheet music with
a good degree of proficiency, which could be the reason
why these musicians had been carefully selected to perform
with the band.
José Gracias meticulously preserved hundreds of these
music sheets, neatly stacked in a trunk at his house in Borda-
Margão.
A few of the music sheets preserved by him date back
to as early as 1944, indicating that he may have collected
the music sheets to be played by the Quartet or even before
that.
The music sheets to the original tune ‘Joe Blues’ (for dif-
ferent instruments) and some tunes composed and arran-
ged by Joe Perry have also been preserved by José Gracias
in his collection.
Perhaps, one of the treasured finds in hundreds of mu-
sic sheets has been a music sheet written and signed by Joe
Perry himself on January 2, 1952. In fact, there were two
such music sheets, but sadly, only one music sheet contains
the full signature of Joe Perry. The other music sheet, which
 91

had a sharper image of his signature, is partially torn right

at the location of his signature, leaving only the “Joe Per...”
portion of the signature visible.
Several music sheets have been written by Alvito da Costa,
while a large number of music sheets have been written or
copied by José Gracias and some by Vivian Coutinho, well
before the ‘Joe Blues’ had been formed.
Incidentally, many of these music sheets were written
between 21 December 1950 and 4 January 1951, probably
when the Quartet was still in existence.
One of the earliest music sheets in the collection was
written by Custodio Cardozo in Bangalore on 25 May 1944.
Cardozo notes that the song ‘Caravan’ was arranged by Duke
Ellington and Tizol. Cardozo had also written a few other
music sheets during this period in Bangalore.
A few of the music sheets were written by Damask Bra-
ganza on 24 February 1958, which was around the time he
was down in Goa and had jammed up with ‘Music Lovers’
for a show at Microfone Municipal, Margão (2 March 1958).
Some other music sheets were written by him in Bombay
on 22 April 1958. He may have returned to Goa sometime
in May 1958, as he wrote some more music sheets in Ma-
jorda for ‘Music Lovers’ on 25 May 1958 and 14 June 1958.
Incidentally, Damask Braganza even penned musical sco-
res on the back of a calendar in Margão on 3 March 1958, in-
dicating that the absence of blank music sheets was never
an impediment to prepare notations for fellow musicians.
Of interest is the music sheet on ‘If you Smile at the Sun’,
which was arranged by Chris Perry in Joe Perry’s style and
written in Spence’s Hotel Calcutta on 4 February 1954. It is
possible that Chris Perry may have handed over this music
92

sheet to ‘Music Lovers’ during his visit to Goa and during

his performances with the band in May and June 1954. It
also indicates that Joe Perry had a distinct style of music, a
fact acknowledged by Chris Perry himself.
Chris Perry had also written and signed on a few other
music sheets and handed them to ‘Music Lovers’, though it
is unclear where and when he had written them.
A music sheet has also been copied by Pax Ferns of Pedda-
Benaulim and this could be the same Pascoal Fernandes, a
bandmate of ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’. This same mu-
sic sheet had been originally copied by Manuel Barretto at
the Grand Club of Margão in Bombay though it is not clear
when this music sheet was copied by either of the two mu-
sicians.
Yet another music sheet had been written and signed by
a bandmate Lawrence Luis of Shiroda. The last recorded
music sheet in the collection was written and signed by C
M Vaz of Margão on 5 September 1964.
B ESIDES performing at shows as part of ‘Joe Blues’ and
‘Music Lovers’, many of these musicians were also in-
volved in concerts in Goa, Bombay and Calcutta, demon-
strating their abilities as accomplished musicians.
At least nine of these musicians – Alvito da Costa, Ana-
cleto Figueiredo, Joe and Chris Perry, Damask Braganza, José
Gracias, Lawrence Luis, Paul Perry and Ronaldo Coutinho –
performed in a music concert.
While four of these concerts have been mentioned briefly
in different parts of this project, the involvement of nine
musicians from this project in these concerts will be men-
tioned in detail in this session.

CONCERT 1

Acclaimed as the finest in Goa at the time, this concert of

the Orquestra Sinfonica de Goa (Goa Symphonic Orchestra),
directed by Maestro Antonio de Figueiredo, was performed
at Cine National Theatre in Panjim on 16 February 1952.
Anacleto Figueiredo shared his recollections of that epic
performance.
“I played the second violin at the Goa Symphonic Or-
chestra, the first concert directed by my uncle, Maestro An-
tonio de Figueiredo. There were about 5 or 6 rehearsals
conducted at the Clube Nacional in Panjim, before the final
concert at Cinema Nacional,” recalled Anacleto.
94

Besides Maestro Antonio, other family members who par-

ticipated in the concert included Anacleto’s father Sebastião
(the elder brother of Antonio de Figueiredo) on the cello, Se-
bastião’s brother, Francisco (viola) and Anacleto’s brothers,
Constancio (violin) and José (viola).
“The first concert of the Orquestra Sinfonica de Goa, fo-
unded by my uncle, was a resounding occasion. The first
ever concert of the kind held in Goa. At the first rehearsal,
I was speechless with enthusiasm and awe listening to the
effect of sound created by so many instruments,” recalled
Anacleto.
The concert by the Goa Symphonic Orchestra also left a
strong impression on Anacleto’s wife Fatima.
“I was 9 years at the time and the concert had such an
effect, that I wanted to learn the violin instead of the piano,”
recalled Fatima.
“Such was my interest in the violin that the following
week day my mother went to the Pedro Fernandes music
store in Panjim and bought me a violin!”
CONCERT 2
This concert, described as the first of its kind in Margão,
took place sometime in 1952.
The event was by no means massive in scale, whether in
the number of musicians or the reputation behind it, but
it was impressive enough to stand out as an unusual and
ambitious concert.
But first, a background to this event will be relevant to
understand and appreciate the peculiarity of the concert
and the sheer audacity of its musicians.
Up until then, the Quartet, comprising Alvito da Costa,
 95

José Gracias, Ronaldo Coutinho and Anacleto Figueiredo,

played occasionally at shows. Surely, nothing significant
about that.
But with the arrival of the brilliantly talented Joe Perry,
the performance and repertoire stepped up significantly in
the Quintet.
This dramatic shift was most evident when the Quintet
embarked on a concert by deciding to play the world-famous
classical piece ‘Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2’ of Liszt. And as
if that were not complex enough, Joe Perry arranged the ac-
claimed classical piece in swing style!
It must have been quite a fusion of sorts and a remark-
able performance, given that just five young musicians –
three violinists and two guitarists – had dared to perform
an acclaimed classical piece, in a swing style, and that too,
in Margão, a place teeming with musicians of reputation
and recognition.
Anacleto Figueiredo recalled this concert having taken
place at Hotel Aliados and he had vague memories of the
event in 1952.
Not much is known about this concert and if the Quintet
performed other songs at the programme, but Joe Perry is
reported to have organised the concert at a time when he
was ailing and had been advised rest at home.
The Quintet was never destined to perform similar con-
certs and achieve further limelight: Anacleto Figueiredo had
left for Hubli for further studies and Joe Perry passed away
on 28 August 1952, sometime after this concert.
CONCERT 3
The Quintet may have performed just one concert, but Joe
96

Perry’s novel arrangement of the Hungarian Rhapsody No.

2 of Liszt in swing style came back to life again, nine years
later, at another concert conducted by his brother, Chris
Perry.
This concert, The Chris Perry Revue, took place at the
New Empire cinema auditorium, Calcutta (Kolkata), on 24
September 1961 and music for this concert was arranged
and conducted by Chris Perry. The programme stated that
the Chris Perry trumpet solo was dedicated to the memory
of his brother, Joe.
Besides Chris Perry, two other musicians, Damask Bra-
ganza (trumpet) and Paul Perry (saxophone), from this pro-
ject had performed at the concert. Other musicians inclu-
ded Joe Carvalho and Michael D’Mello (trumpets), Felix Tor-
cato (piano), Carl Evans (Bass), Tony Mascarenhas (drums),
Tony D’Costa (bongo) and Mathias Jaques, Augustus D’Sa
and Cedric Manuel (saxophones).
The many vocalists at the concert included Brenda Lilley,
Reubin Rebeiro, Pam Crain, Shirley Meyers, Clive Hughes,
Karen Leslie, Pat Tarley, Derrick Godinho and Mike de Dom-
bal.
The show had even included dance performances.
Among the 27 songs performed at the concert included
the songs ‘Bass Speaks’ and ‘Fly and the Spider’ composed
by Chris Perry.
CONCERT 4
A fusion of various instruments and styles of the East and
West, with the music composed and conducted by the leg-
endary musician, composer and arranger, Anthony Gonsal-
ves, was performed at the first concert of its kind in 1958.
 97

The Grand Choral and Philharmonic Concert was one of

the finest performances of the time, comprising 115 lead-
ing musicians and singers at St Xavier’s College Quadrangle,
Bombay, on 15-16 April 1958.
This concert was also unique for the fact that it featured
the legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, who had sung in doz-
ens of languages for over seven decades, singing in two spe-
cial languages: Konkani and Latin.
“During this concert, Lata Mangeshkar sang the Latin
hymn ‘Ave Maria’ and the Konkani song ‘Dant Vont Xipai
Zaun Mogache’. She was happy and proud to have sung a
Konkani song and Latin hymn only for my dad, so much so
that she even wanted that audio recording of ‘Ave Maria’,”
recalled Laxmi, daughter of Anthony Gonsalves.
That Gonsalves managed to bring together 115 artistes
(87 musicians and 28 voices) on one stage was a feat in itself,
but getting acclaimed musicians and singers, Michael Mar-
tins (Orlim), Peter Monserrate (Majorda), Chic Chocolate
(Aldona), Lata Mangeshkar (also of Goan origin), Manna
Dey and Pyarelal to perform alongside each other must have
been quite an accomplishment, which only goes to show
the respect these celebrated artistes accorded to Anthony
Gonsalves.
“All 115 artistes must have been of high calibre to have
been considered and carefully hand-picked by Anthony Gon-
salves to perform at the rare and historic concert,” said Bard-
roy Barretto, director of the acclaimed Konkani film Nachom-
ia Kumpasar (Let’s Dance to the Rhythm).
What makes this concert particularly special to this story
is that two musicians from our list of 37 musicians had per-
formed at the concert.
98

Details from the long list of musicians who performed

at the Grand Choral and Philharmonic Concert reveal that
Damask Braganza played the trumpet, while Lawrence Luis
played the trombone at this concert, thereby rendering them-
selves worthy ambassadors and representatives of ‘Music
Lovers’!
I T appears the band members of ‘Joe Blues’ were deter-
mined to leave their mark not only with their music on
stage, but on the field as well.
What is interesting is that ‘Joe Blues’ had set up a volley-
ball team. Cuttings in the A Vida newspaper reveal that the
‘Joe Blues’ volleyball team had even performed in a tourna-
ment at Benaulim on 13 December, 15 December, 18 De-
cember, 20 December and 27 December of 1953.
The ‘Joe Blues’ team consisted of José Gracias (captain),
Rosendo, Camilo and Francisco Sousa (brothers from Bor-
da), Antonio Noronha (Borda) and Raul Dias. That the ‘Joe
Blues’ volleyball team was not merely a recreational outfit
and it meant business was evident when the team went on
to win the tournament organised by the Gremio Literario
Recreativo of Benaulim in the field close to the house of Ad-
vocate Bras Barreto near the Patrocínio Chapel in Benaulim
on 27 December 1953.
The event was recorded in the A Vida on 31 December
1953, which, when translated into English, had this to state:

The volleyball tournament organised by Gremio

Literario Recreativo of Benaulim has taken place
in the noon of 27th of this month, in the field close
to the house of Advocate Bras Barreto, and the fi-
nal was played between teams ‘Joe Blues’ of Mar-
gão and ‘Father José Vaz’ of this parish, which was
100

won by the former team by a score of 15-12, 15-9

and 15-12.
The numerous spectators included ladies and yo-
ung ladies, as people followed with great interest
the keenly fought game between both teams. The
referee, Ibrahim John, was excellent.
At the end of the game, Mr José Carlos Proenca,
official at the Sports Committee of the Parish con-
gratulated the players for their performance and
he later distributed the trophies to the respective
team captains.
Benaulim, December 1953

The ‘Joe Blues’ volleyball team also participated in a vol-

leyball tournament organised by the Associaçao Academica,
Taleigão, and went on to win the trophy on 4 February 1954.
Sadly, one of the team mates, Antonio Noronha of Borda,
who had participated in both tournaments, passed away
barely eight years later on 25 August 1962, at the young age
of 29 years.
W HETHER it was his love for jazz and swing music af-
ter ‘Music Lovers’ stopped performing at shows or
whether he was simply continuing his duty as secretary of
‘Music Lovers’ may never be known, but José Gracias de-
cided to give ‘Music Lovers’ a different direction, using his
secretarial capabilities to collect, document and preserve
details of musicians, their performances and other litera-
ture on jazz and swing music.
At the time, the Voice of America (VOA) was perhaps one
of the most popular radio channels and Willis Conover (1920-
1996) was an American radio broadcaster and jazz promoter
who was the long-time host of the Music USA programme
on the VOA. Conover had started the Friends of Music USA
(FOMUSA) fan club in a bid to promote jazz across the world.
In his dissertation on “Sounds for adventurous listeners:
Willis Conover, The Voice of America, and the international
reception of avant-garde jazz in the 1960s” for the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy, University of North Texas, Mark A
Breckenridge said “The Friends of Music USA (FOMUSA)
was Conover’s international jazz fan club, a government-
funded social network comprising fans in approximately 80
countries.”
Breckenridge said while FOMUSA ultimately grew to mo-
re than 3,000 chapters worldwide, it “enabled communica-
tion between friends of jazz across the world in a vast com-
plex of shared knowledge and distribution of jazz materials.
102

The newsletter was distributed in 21 issues between 1964

and 1969 as supplements to the broadcasts.”
It is evident that José Gracias was one of the earliest ap-
plicants in the world to seek affiliation to The Friends of Mu-
sic USA. A certificate of membership, which shows some
age and deterioration, in the Gracias residence in Borda-
Margão states that the “Music Lovers club of Goa-India has
qualified for membership in the great international fellow-
ship of music lovers known as ‘Friends of Music USA’ and
is hereby designated Chapter 142.” The certificate was is-
sued on 26 May 1964 and it is signed by the legendary Willis
Conover himself.
As part of the Goa Chapter of FOMUSA, José Gracias had
received some memorabilia from FOMUSA and they inclu-
ded membership cards, some LPs as well as pin badges with
the iconic FOMUSA logo, which he would wear on special
occasions.
In addition, he would also receive periodic newsletters
from FOMUSA, receiving information on broadcasts, jazz
events, and recordings broadcast on the Music USA Jazz
Hour.
According to Breckenridge, Conover answered questions,
offered opinions and expressed a warm and inviting kin-
ship with his listeners in the newsletters.
Whether or not jazz activities were conducted or promo-
ted during the tenure of Goa Chapter (Chapter No. 142) of
Friends of Music USA and when this association came to an
end is unclear, but the certificate is a lone reminder of the
passion that José Gracias had for jazz music.
José Gracias also subscribed to the ‘Down Beat’ bi-weekly
music magazine, which published information on jazz, blues
 103

and other forms of music. Dozens of magazines, right from

September 1964 to the mid-1970s, have been neatly stacked
up in a trunk at the Gracias residence.
The several ‘Down Beat’ and other jazz magazines, the
FOMUSA newsletters and other literature provided a wealth
of information on music to ‘Music Lovers’, which added to
the knowledge and appreciation of music that Gracias and
his musician friends acquired over the years.
As part of his personal collection, Gracias also cherished
the LPs which were gifted to him by his friend, Chris Perry,
as souvenirs when his music was released and some of them
were even autographed by the legend himself. He regret-
ted that his LP player eventually stopped functioning years
later, but that did not stop him from preserving his LP col-
lection.
T HE ‘Music Lovers’ may have stopped performing at sho-
ws sometime in 1963 and the band members went on
to pursue different vocations. But the musicians never re-
ally parted ways and would keep in touch whenever they
would meet.
While Joe Perry and Pascoal Antonio Fernandes died pre-
maturely while only in their twenties, Alvito da Costa, Da-
mask Braganza and Paul Perry passed away in their mid-
40s. Some other musicians continued with music as a pro-
fession, even going on to form their own bands, while oth-
ers ventured into different vocations.
This section will focus on the lives and music of those
musicians (in alphabetical order) who played either in the
‘Quartet’, the ‘Quintet’, ‘Joe Blues’ or ‘Music Lovers’.
Alvito Bernardo das Dores Barreto e Costa – Borda, Margão
(2 May 1924—20 Apr 1970).
Not much is known about the band leader, Alvito da Costa,
after his association with ‘Music Lovers’, because virtually
all of musician friends who were either close to him or had
performed with him are no more.
“I do not have any memory of my grandfather, Alvito, as
he passed away many years before I was born. I was, how-
ever, given to understand that he was a brilliant musician
who could play a number of instruments,” recalled Alvito
(Suraj) da Costa, who was named after his grandfather.
 105

Suraj said his mother, Lydia, recalled being told that her
father, Alvito, had taught for some time at the Bhatikar Mo-
del High School (formerly known as Model English High
School).
“She told me that my grandfather did not teach music
but some other subject. But she can’t remember much as
she was also small when he passed away,” said Suraj.
It appears that Alvito may not have taught for long at the
school.
Alvito was passionate about music and was proud of his
vocation, even it if meant being considered on the lower
rungs of the professional hierarchy during his time.
“A friend of mine made mention of an incident when she
had gone for a dance and Alvito happened to be dancing
with one of her friends,” recalled a relative of José Gracias.
“Her friend was impressed by the tall, smart, elegant and
well-attired Alvito and assumed he was either a lawyer, judge
or in some other high position in society and casually asked
him about his profession. His short and simple reply shock-
ed her and her jaws dropped: “I don’t work, I’m a musician!”
After the dance, the lady narrated the incident to my friend
and she, in turn, passed on the story to me,” added the rela-
tive.
Alvito da Costa must have been ailing in April 1970 and
received the last sacraments on 15 April 1970. He passed
away five days later, at the young age of 45 years. Many
who were closely known to him believe that Alvito da Costa
never rose to his peak musical capabilities, given his un-
timely demise.
The burial record at the Holy Spirit Church, Margão, made
no reference to Alvito as a musician and, instead, described
106

him as a landlord, from which family background he must

have hailed.

Anacleto Xavier dos Remedios Figueiredo, Margão (30 Nov

1932–28 Apr 2022)
As mentioned in an earlier section, Anacleto Figueiredo mo-
ved out of Goa to pursue further studies in Commerce in
Hubli-Karnataka and then went to Bombay. In 1958, he
moved to Lisbon, from where he went to Angola and then
to the UK in 1975, where he practised as a barrister, solicitor
and notary public in London.
Anacleto was not just an accomplished musician but was
proficient in various other disciplines like commerce, psy-
chology, management, law and finally, farming, when he
and his wife, Fatima, returned to Goa in 2012.
Consider his qualifications: B.Com (Bom), LLB (Hons),
LLM (Lon), MA in Business Law (Lon), BSc (Hons) (Psychol-
ogy), MSc (Psychology), PGD in Clinical Application of Psy-
chology (UK), formerly of the Middle Temple Barrister-at-
Law, Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales
& Notary Public, Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbi-
trators (Lon) and Accredited Mediator (Lon).
Anacleto believed he inherited music genes from his fa-
ther and maternal grandfather, Ligorio de Natividade Dias
from Borda-Margão.
Anacleto was not only a versatile player of the guitar, vio-
lin, mandolin, cello and bass, he was also an accomplished
player, who played at major concerts and events, which in-
cluded his participation as a violinist at the Orquestra Sin-
fonica de Goa (Goa Symphonic Orchestra) founded and di-
rected by his uncle, Maestro Antonio de Figueiredo.
 107

“I also played the first violin in the Loyola Orchestra (1958)

and mandolin in a Goan musical group organised by my
late younger brother Fortunato, which went to Paris with
Amalia Rodrigues and another Portuguese group. We per-
formed at the Olympia for 21 days, sometime in 1966,” re-
called Anacleto.
While at Sydenham College in Bombay, Figueiredo also
used to play in Bombay and surrounding places, including
Gujarat, at different Parsi and other events. They had a group,
but not with members of the Goa groups. He also played
with two musicians and leading architects, Sarto Almeida
and Lucio Costa, in Bombay.
Figueiredo admitted that he did not pursue music while
he and his family were in London. “Much to my disappoint-
ment, I did not play in London as I was too busy with the de-
velopment of my new profession,” added Figueiredo, who
lived along with his wife in Margão after retiring in his new
avatar as a farmer.
Anacleto has been part of a prodigiously talented family
of musicians, with at least 55 family members of the Figuei-
redo family hailing from Loutolim involved in music, either
full-time or part-time, across five generations!
Such has been the number of family members involved
in music that it is impossible to do justice to the entire Figu-
eiredo family in this project. The Figueiredo family needs to
consider a detailed documentation of their musical contri-
butions, which would be of immense value to Goa’s music
history and heritage.
This project will, however, briefly mention the involve-
ment of some family members of the Figueiredo family and
their relationship to Anacleto, since he had performed with
108

musicians in the Quartet, Quintet and ‘Joe Blues’.

Family members recalled that Anacleto’s grandfather, An-
tonio Gabriel de Figueiredo, was a tenor while his wife, Er-
melinda Parras Figueiredo (1866-1937), was apparently a
fine soprano and Mando singer, who played the mandolin
and used to accompany herself on the Spanish Guitar.
Ermelinda’s eighth (second last) son, Maestro Antonio
de Figueiredo (1903-1981), who was the uncle of Anacleto,
is perhaps the best-known member of the Figueiredo fam-
ily, having achieved acclaim in Goa and across the world.
Maestro Antonio de Figueiredo was the founder director
of the ‘Academia de Musica de Goa’ (the Music Academy
of Goa), which later became known as the Department of
Western Music of Kala Academy.
The Kala Academy refers to the Academia as “the first in-
stitution in India to impart a wide range of courses – violin,
piano, voice, etc.”
Anacleto’s father Sebastião, the elder brother of Antonio
de Figueiredo, played the mandolin and cello. Sebastião
(cello) and his younger brother, Francisco (viola) had also
taken part in the Goa Symphonic Orchestra conducted by
their younger brother, Antonio.
Other family members who also participated in this con-
cert were Maestro Antonio’s nephews, Anacleto (violin) and
his brothers, Constancio (violin) and José (viola). Inciden-
tally, José could play the Portuguese guitar as well.
Anacleto’s other siblings were also musicians, with young-
er brother, Salvador, playing the violin and guitar, while their
sister, Leopoldina, trained her voice in classical music in
the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome, making waves
in Goa and abroad. Leopoldina was a voice teacher at Aca-
 109

demia de Musica, and later at the Kala Academy, until she

retired.
Maestro Antonio’s daughter, Teresa, is a cellist and was
also a teacher and acting Director at the Kala Academy. Her
brothers, Gabriel (violin) and Vicente (violin), sisters, Ce-
line (viola) and Yvonne (piano) are also gifted musicians.
Gabriel de Figueiredo plays the violin for the Preston Sym-
phonic Orchestra in Melbourne. His son, Paulo, plays the
cornet and trumpet in several brass bands in Australia, while
his daughter, Fernanda, plays the piano.
Vicente’s son, Dennis, plays the violin and mandolin, whi-
le Teresa’s children, Belinda, Tabitha and David are also into
music. Belinda completed her Grade 8 in piano and is pre-
sently working on ATCL repertoire. She also plays the oboe
(Grade 4). Tabitha did her Grade 5 of violin, then switched
over to cello. She also did voice training up to Grade 5. She
is a member of Stuti Ensemble.
David completed his Grade 8 in violin (Trinity College),
plays acoustic guitar and bass guitar for gospel bands in
Bombay and Goa. He trained in piano tuning and repairs
under 2 British tutors and attended Steinway intermediate
level training in China.
Celine is the programme executive with the All India Ra-
dio (AIR) in Panjim. Her son, Vivian, plays the trumpet,
guitar and a little bit of piano, while he sang as a tenor in
a choir for three years at the Salesian Pontifical University
Choir of Rome. Her daughter, Marissa, plays the viola and
sings too. She is mostly involved in church choirs and mu-
sic ministry.
Anacleto’s brother, Fortunato, his wife and their five chil-
dren had a family orchestra. In the 1990s, they performed
110

in Goa, Portugal, London, Sydney and Macau.

Fortunato was a baritone and he played the guitar, pi-
ano, cello, mandolin and accordion. He taught his wife, Fa-
tima, to sing and play the mandolin, while also teaching
instruments to his children, José Gabriel (guitar), Carolina
(singing and piano), Eugenia (singing and cello), Maria do
Rosario (singing and violin) and Bernardo (gumot and vi-
olin). Bernardo enjoys playing the violin in religious cere-
monies and parties.
Carolina later chose to follow a musical career. Trained
at the Conservatório de Musica, Lisbon, she is a mezzo so-
prano and has performed in Portugal and several European
countries. She also sings Mandos and plays the Gumot and
her Goan heritage group ‘Portugoesas’ performed at the Kala
Academy in Goa.
Her children, David Jaques, is an avid violin player and
daughter, Margarida Jaques, loves to train her voice.
Carolina had fond memories of her childhood at the Fi-
gueiredo house in Margão.
“When my father was a kid, the Figueiredo house at Mar-
gão was known for the siblings playing together with my
grandfather. My grandfather Sebastião Figueiredo would
be on the cello, my aunt Clara on the piano, uncle Constan-
cio on the violin and I believe uncle José played the viola
with them as well.”
“My father got to do the same with his own family. We
are five brothers and sisters and we all played together, both
classical music and Goan folk songs. We got to perform at
Clube Harmonia in Margão and Kala Academy in Panjim
very often. Nice great memories from my childhood,” re-
called Carolina.
 111

Added Anacleto’s wife Fatima: “It was a family tradition that

whenever they were together, each member would pick up
their instrument and play and sing. Antonieta, Anacleto’s
sister had a beautiful natural voice.”
Anacleto’s eldest sister Clara, the mother of Francis and
Oscar Menezes, played the piano in a trio with her father
and brother, Constancio.
Anacleto’s nephew, Francis Menezes, plays the mandolin,
while his daughter, Vanessa, is a singer with the Gospel band
‘Faith’ and the choir ‘Grace’ in Goa. She released three orig-
inal gospel songs in 2021.
Vanessa completed Grade 8 in vocals at Trinity College
and is now a voice trainer in Margão. Besides, she also sings
as part of a duo at leading restaurants in Goa. Vanessa’s
brother, Ian Menezes, plays the guitar mainly for gospel mu-
sic in worship meetings and Church choirs.
Jessica Menezes, the daughter of Anacleto’s nephew, Os-
car Menezes, is a piano player.
Anacleto’s brother, Salvador, has two of his children also
into music. His son, Daniel, plays the chromatic harmon-
ica, while daughter, Sheila, plays the piano and sings. She
had a band in London.
Kiran Jay Haslam is the son of another cousin of Ana-
cleto who has been a professional jazz, Latin, funk and fu-
sion musician who toured the world as a musician and com-
poser.
Darryl Figueiredo, the son of Anacleto’s cousin, has play-
ed the trumpet and the French horn with the school band
and also played the rhythm guitar for ‘Oromins’, a junior
band of Don Bosco Oratory, Panjim in 1970s. Darryl later
switched to the bass guitar and vocals with the bands ‘Clique’,
112

‘Ecstasy’ and ‘Cascades’.

Darryl and his wife, Monica, are also involved in choirs,
with Darryl on the vocals and guitar and Monica on the
vocals and keyboard. Their sons are also involved in mu-
sic. Aaron did 5 grades of violin and Dwayne pursued five
grades of classical guitar, both at Kala Academy. Dwayne
even won two All-Goa talent competitions in classical gui-
tar. They are now professional DJ’s. Darryl’s brother, Fr Ian
Figueiredo, a Salesian priest, plays the saxophone.
Carl Peter de Figueiredo, the son of another cousin of
Anacleto, is a singer (tenor) and pianist/organist who has
sung with English Baroque Choir, Adoramus Choir, Philhar-
monia Chorus, performing with these choral ensembles at
Royal Albert Hall, Barbican and Royal Festival Hall and in
Italy and France.
Daryl Coelho, the son of another cousin of Anacleto, is a
gifted violinist who performed along with Selwyn Menezes
(mandolin) and Omar de Loiola Pereira (guitar) in the acous-
tic instrumental trio ‘Big Three’ in Goa. He is now based in
London.
Incidentally, Daryl and Mercy Fernandes, son of Pedro
Santana (a musician in this project) had even played together
at some shows in Goa.
Fr Denzil Rodrigues, a Jesuit priest and son of a cousin of
Anacleto, plays the harmonica, guitar and quite a few wind
instruments and his sister, Arantxa, has done Grade 7 in vi-
olin.
Yet another cousin of Anacleto, Ermelinda Sequeira, was
an accomplished pianist and singer. Her son, Mario, is a
singer, while his daughters, Sheona and Charlene, are versa-
tile singers and musicians. Sheona participated in the Voice
 113

of Holland contest and has done Grade 6 in piano, while

Charlene has done Grade 5 in piano and plays the guitar
and ukulele.
Fatima, the daughter of Anacleto’s uncle, Luis João Figu-
eiredo, has been a pianist in Portugal.
Anacleto Figueiredo sadly passed away on 28 April 2022,
as this book was in the final stages of publication. As men-
tioned in a previous section, it has been my profound regret
not to have met him while he was alive and to thank him for
all that he had contributed to this music project.
Antonio Moraes, Pulwaddo–Benaulim (13 Jul 1924–14 Jan
2012)
Antonio Moraes went on to serve the Konkani stage, partic-
ularly the Khell Tiatr for several years, as director, musician
and writer.
He went on to write more than 50 Khell Tiatrs, some of
which were ‘Zomir’, ‘Kunbi Naresh’, ‘Sanddlolo Put’, ‘Dus-
manak Dinvchona’, ‘Zolmachi Khopti’, ‘Sorg’, ‘Mojim Bhur-
gim’, ‘Onupkari Put’, ‘Paik Lagon’, ‘Kirmidor’, etc.
He also directed many Khell Tiatrs like ‘Khori Govai’, ‘Uni-
eachem Aikon’, ‘Visvaxi Ghorkarn’, ‘Amigak Lagon’, ‘Avoich-
em Aikon’, ‘Bhau-Bhau’, ‘Konnachem Kazar’, ‘Kazarachea
Disa’ and ‘Konnak Favo’.
As a versatile musician who played the trumpet, drums
and bass guitar, Moraes played at several Khell Tiatrs. He
also provided music to tiatrs written and directed by leg-
ends of the Tiatr stage like Nelson Afonso, M Dod de Verna,
Alfred Rose, C Alvares, M Boyer and others.
He went on to release three audio albums ‘Devacho Ghutt’,
‘Pormolit Fullam’ and ‘Ami Tiatrist’.
114

The pioneering contribution of Antonio Moraes to Khell

Tiatr has been documented in the article on ‘Tiatr’ by Dr
Andre Rafael Fernandes, professor at the Department of En-
glish at Goa University, for the book ‘The Languages of Goa’
as part of the People’s Linguistic Survey of India series (Vol-
ume Eight, Part II), edited by G N Devy (chief editor) and
Madhavi Sardesai and Damodar Mauzo (editors).
In one section on ‘Rise of Non-Stop Dramas’ in the arti-
cle, Dr Fernandes had this to state: “The traditional khells
had been transformed into Khell Tiatrs by Antonio Moraes,
by raising them from the ground to the stage (replete with
curtains) in March 1956.”
“Whereas earlier, the same costumes (consisting of top
hat, sleeping suit and zinc swords swinging at the waist)
were worn for the entire play, Moraes insisted on changes
in costumes to suit the roles or the characters. He split the
performance into ‘pordde’ or scenes.”
“Being a musician, he introduced a proper drum set and
a musical interlude between scenes. By skilfully eliminat-
ing the time-gaps between changes of scenes, he brought
in the term ‘Non-Stop’ Khell Tiatr in December 1962, when
his troupe toured Bombay.”
Moraes was conferred with a number of awards, which
included the Goa State Cultural Award for Music (2005-06)
and the Directorate of Art and Culture (2009), while he was
also felicitated by the Goa Konkani Academy during the 100-
year celebrations of the Tiatr.
Incidentally, Dr Andre Rafael Fernandes had interviewed
Antonio Moraes, as part of his doctoral research on Tiatr.
“He spoke more about his role in fostering Khell Tiatr
and transforming it from the ground to the stage. When I
 115

asked him how he got interested in Khells, Antonio Moraes

told me that as a youngster, he would feel a sensation (urba)
in his body, the moment he heard the first sounds of music
(reng-teng, drum and trumpet), alerting villagers to an im-
minent performance by a roving troupe.”
“He ensured that he regularly saw performances of these
itinerant troupes. As his expertise grew as an exponent of
Khell, he would travel even up to Santa Cruz and stay for
about a week to train youngsters in performing Khells.”
“He didn’t talk much about his music. But he was very
sentimental about his trumpet which was borrowed by some-
one and never returned. He said the horn had a rich tim-
bre/resonance as it likely contained a higher percentage of
gold,” said Dr Fernandes.
“That loss of the trumpet created a vacuum, from which
he never recovered. Though his son bought another trum-
pet, he never felt the same way about playing it, as he felt
with his old instrument.”
“He had composed two instrumental tunes as ‘dirges’ (a
lament for the dead, a mournful song, piece of music or
sound), which he was hoping Doordarshan would record
and play during periods of mourning. But that was never
fulfilled,” Dr Fernandes added.
Inacio José Gomes of Dongrim-Majorda, who has pro-
vided details on Damask (Damaso) Braganza, another mu-
sician in the group and mentioned below in the section, re-
called memories of an unusual encounter with Moraes and
at an unlikely location.
“I had gone to for a retreat at Potta in Kerala and on one
occasion, happened to visit the wash room in the retreat
centre. To my pleasant surprise, I heard a person in the ad-
116

jacent toilet whistling a distinct tune from the Khell ‘Kar-

naval’ written and directed by Dominic Vaz of Varca.”
“I was sure Antonio was in that toilet and whistling the
tune of a beautiful song he had performed at the Khell. I
waited till he came out of the toilet and immediately recog-
nised Antonio. We then began chatting about that Khell,”
recalled Gomes.
Antonio Moraes passed away on 14 January 2012 at the
age of 88. His son, Seby, has continued his father’s musical
legacy by playing the trumpet at various Tiatrs.
Camilo Vas, Rachol (22 Jun 1928–21 May 2005)
Martin Vas recalled that his father, Camilo, had been in Bom-
bay and worked as a compounder/pharmacist.
“In Goa, he worked in government primary health cen-
tres like Keri-Sattari, Guirdolim, Curtorim, Shiroda and the
Leprosy hospital in Macasana. After retirement, he worked
at the Maina pharmacy near the Church/Maina market.”
“He would take leave to play for the shows. During the
Portuguese rule, he was in the Portuguese Police Band in
Panjim and I only recall his cap which he used to wear while
playing in the police band.”
“My dad was a regular member of the CIC (Custodio Ina-
cio Cardozo) Band and later, went on to play with the band
‘Luis and his Melodians’. He also played for feasts and other
small functions,” recalled Martin.
The musical legacy of Camilo Vas has been passed on to
his two sons, Martin and Jeronimo (Jerry).
“I learnt to play the guitar and played in church choirs,
while my son, Sam, who is an electronics engineer by qual-
ification, studied music (eight grades). He plays the piano
 117

and is currently pursuing LTCL in piano performance. Sam

also plays the tenor saxophone, clarinet and keyboards. He
has exposure in jazz, pop and church choirs. In fact, Sam
plays my dad’s tenor sax and clarinet,” said Martin.
Jerry, a civil engineer by profession, has been playing the
keyboard in Gospel bands. He is presently a member of the
Gospel Band ‘Faith’.
Incidentally, Jerry and another member of the Gospel
Band ‘Faith’, Vanessa Menezes, have an unusual connection.
Vanessa’s granduncle Anacleto Figueiredo, and Jerry’s father,
Camilo Vas, are in the list of 37 musicians who had per-
formed for ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’!
When this was brought to his notice, Jerry said: “That’s
nice to hear. Vanessa and I are now carrying forward the
legacy of our elders.”
Chris Perry, Povoação, Margão (25 Nov 1928–25 Jan 2002)
His musical excellence and contributions need not be re-
peated here, simply because so much has already been writ-
ten about the life and times of this genius of Konkani music.
What, however, may not be so well-known is that Chris
never forgot his musically gifted brothers, Joe and Paul, es-
pecially due to their early and untimely deaths. His elder
brother, Joe, died in 1952 at the age of 28, when Chris was
barely 24 years old, while Chris’ younger brother, Paul, died
in 1978 at the age of 44 years.
In at least two magazines, both of which are in the col-
lection of José Gracias, Chris Perry is reported to have ad-
mitted that his source of inspiration was his own brother,
Joe.
An article for the souvenir at The Chris Perry Revue, a
118

performance dedicated to the memory of his brother, Joe,

at the New Empire cinema auditorium, Calcutta, on 24 Sept-
ember 1961, stated, “A source of inspiration and emulation
was his brother, the late Joe Perry, who died prematurely at
the early age of 28. Joe was a tremendous musician but his
untimely demise cut short a brilliant career that lay ahead.”
In another article on Chris Perry for a souvenir at the
‘Chris Perry Show’ organised by the Goan Sports Club in
Delhi in 1967, it is stated, “circumstances and opportuni-
ties were, however, against him. He could not get anyone
who would volunteer him a coaching or even guidance. The
only source of inspiration Chris had around him was in the
person of his brother, Joe Perry, himself a great musician of
standing who could have perhaps led the young Chris up
the ladder to success.”
Chris and Paul played together with ‘Joe Blues’ in 1954,
as has been mentioned in an earlier section. Paul also per-
formed with Chris at other shows and his musical career
was sadly cut short when he passed away at the young age
of 44 years.
A year after Paul passed away, Chris offered a Requiem
Mass for the souls of his brothers, Joe and Paul, at the St
Francis Xavier Church, Dabul-Bombay, and at the Holy Spirit
Church, Margão, on 24 September 1979.
Chris was the only Perry brother who went on to achieve
legendary status in the Konkani music world and his famed
stage name “Perry” is a befitting tribute to his beloved el-
der brother, Joe Perry, who is believed to have been the first
brother to have Anglicised the Pereira surname on stage.
The Perry brothers were certainly gifted musicians and it
is a tragedy that none Chris Perry’s other five other siblings
 119

were to live beyond the age of 45 years.

In the liner notes of his music CD album ‘Do Re Me’ re-
leased by V P Sinari and Sons in 1997, Perry stated that his
sister Filomena departed when she was barely five years old
and Lourdes when she was only six months.
“Zakarias who loved the drums was taken away at the
age of 10, Paul a great saxophonist at 44 and Joe Perry a ge-
nius who could play any musical instrument at the age of
nine and died at the age of 28," stated Perry.
"Joe Perry was a talented composer and arranger, it was
with his inspiration and encouragement that I learnt music
at the age of 22," Perry added.
Cipriano Dourado – Utorda (18 Aug 1923–12 Jan 2001)
A celebrated musician of his time, Cipriano Dourado was
born on 18 August 1923 to parents Estevao and Brazilia Dou-
rado in Gabriel Cruz Vaddo in Utorda-Majorda, Goa.
A master of many instruments, Cipriano began his musi-
cal journey, learning from Maestro José Antonio Gonsalves
of Majorda, the father of the legendary music arranger and
composer, Anthony Gonsalves (in honour of who the film
Amar Akbar Anthony was named). From there, his musi-
cal journey continued as he played for countless weddings,
church feasts, Tiatrs, Khell Tiatrs and Hindi films. He was
also part of the band ‘Music Lovers’ during the 1950s.
In 1953, he got married to Eufermina and went on to
have seven children, four sons and three daughters, all of
whom grew up in their family home in Utorda. They all
share fond memories of him.
“My father used to play many instruments including the
violin, flute, trumpet and clarinet. We still have his violin
120

and trumpet with us. It’s been passed down to his grand-
children, who share the same musical talent that he did”
said Cypriano’s eldest son, Estevam Rosario.
Estevam moved to Dubai in 1979 and has been based
there till date. He is married to Maria Francisca and has
two children. His son, Hysen, plays the keyboard and gui-
tar while his daughter, Emma, has learnt the violin.
“My dad travelled to Bombay in 1963 and later went to
Delhi where he performed in the band led by Rudy at the
VIP Club Lagoona. He returned to Bombay sometime in
1970 and continued his musical career in the film industry
till 1984, before returning to Goa,” recalled Estevam.
After returning to Goa in 1984, Cipriano went back to
playing at the church choir and spending time with his fam-
ily.
Cipriano’s younger son, Miguel Francis, who shares the
same passion for music as his father, prides himself on hav-
ing gotten all his four children to learn music at an early age.
The youngest two, Swida, plays the keyboard, and Rossy,
plays the violin. Both are beyond thrilled to take their grand-
father’s legacy forward. They even have a choir, where Mi-
guel’s wife, Socorina, sings the first voice along with the oth-
ers. She is also the most significant backstage team mem-
ber at every event and choir.
Miguel’s eldest two, Stefi and Milroy, are also music con-
noisseurs. They recall their grandfather’s fond memory of
adding an angelic warmth to every feast mass choir.
The memory of Cipriano as a skilled musician and a won-
derful human being is evergreen in the hearts of many.
Laxmi Gonsalves of Majorda recalled Cipriano as a very
close friend of her dad, the legendary Anthony Gonsalves,
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and of their entire family.

“Cipriano would come over quite often and they would
engross in old childhood memories,” said Laxmi.
“My brother and I would tell uncle Cipriano to keep dad
busy so we would take his bicycle and learn to ride. Those
days, we would have to put one leg under the bar as the seat
was too high for small kids.”
“Uncle Cipriano was our supporter and after we were
done cycling, we would quietly keep his cycle back. In case
dad called out for us, Cipriano uncle would take care of the
situation!”
“Cipriano really loved my dad and all of us. He was a
wonderful human being. He would grow vegetables and
water melons in his field and bring the best pick for dad.
Those days were so good, sincere people full of love and
goodwill. Money was never important,” recalled Laxmi.
“Dad would make a kind of wine, which he called ‘Con-
serv’, and everyone enjoyed it. Cipriano loved it too. It was
medicinal made with herbs and was very effective for com-
mon cold.”
Laxmi also recalled Cipriano playing the violin during a
litany at her home nearly 30 years ago.
“We celebrate the feast of the Holy Spirit every year in
our home. There is an old and beautifully embossed Holy
Spirit on our wall, which is said to be over 400 years old.”
“Cipriano and his uncle, Martinho Dourado, would come
with their violins every year to play and participate in the
annual feast of Holy Spirit at home, while dad and his young-
er brother, Eugenio, would sing the litany and hymns,” said
Laxmi.
On 12 January 2001, Cypriano passed away at the age of
122

76 at his home in Utorda-Majorda. He was laid to rest the

next day at the Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery in Utorda.
Custodio Inacio Cardoso, Rachol (2 Mar 1911–6 Oct 1981)
Custodio Inacio Cardoso had a life-long journey with music
which spanned nearly six decades.
According to Custodio’s son Francisco (Franky) Cardozo,
the family was heavily influenced by music.
“My father’s elder brother Simon (Simao), who played
the violin, was born in 1900. After secondary education, my
uncle took my father, Custodio, and a neighbour to a music
college in Belgaum to study music. After his music course,
my father returned to Rachol and started playing and teach-
ing trumpet, guitar, saxophone, clarinet, violin and drums,”
said Franky.
“He went on to play music for a circus in Bombay and
toured many parts of India for various shows. He also per-
formed in Bangalore, Madras, Bombay, Delhi, Kashmir and
Simla,” Franky added.
Between 1954 and 1963, Custodio was a regular musi-
cian with ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’, besides freelancing
with other bands.
“In the 1960s, possibly after ‘Music Lovers’, my father
formed the CIC (Custodio Inacio Cardozo) Band in Raia, with
some of the musicians from ‘Music Lovers’ like Camilo Vas
and Caitan (Caitulo) Minguel Vas (alto saxophone) of Ilha
de Rachol, with the other musicians being Custodio (trum-
pet), Remedios (drums) and José (mandolin). They perfor-
med at weddings and dances for about 5-6 years.”
“In 1969, he went to Delhi and played the alto saxophone
with the great Parsi tenor saxophone player Rudy Cotton
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(Cawas Khatau) for about 2-3 years. He also played the vio-
lin at the Delhi Symphony Orchestra,” said Franky.
“In 1973, he returned to Goa and played the alto saxo-
phone for ‘Radio Serenaders’ for about a year till 1975. He
then began playing the alto saxophone with ‘Luis and his
Melodians’ over the next four years till 1979.”
“My father would also play with the brass band at feasts
and even conducted a choir at the Rachol Seminary in 1960s.
He would also perform at a musical play at Rachol Semi-
nary every year on December 3 (Feast of St Francis Xavier).
He even gave private music classes in Rachol.”
Custodio stopped playing music due to ill-health and pa-
ssed away in 1981.
“Music was a life-long journey for my father, which be-
gan right after his secondary education and went on till two
years before his death. I remember he was full of praise for
Joe Perry as a brilliant musician, who tragically passed away
while only in his twenties. He was also a very close friend
of Camilo Vas, another musician from ‘Music Lovers’,” re-
called Franky.
It was, but natural, that Custodio Cardozo and his brother,
Simon, would have influenced some of his children to pur-
sue music.
“My father got my elder brother, Antonio, to play the gui-
tar, while I learnt to play the piano from my uncle. Later,
my brother, Antonio, along with some friends, formed the
‘Junior CIC band’ and he was the singer in the band.”
Franky learnt music from his father and uncle, who was
a pianist, while also studying music at the ‘Music Circle’,
a reputed music school in Margão headed by Maestro Fr
Camilo Xavier.
124

Franky later went on to teach music at the ‘Music Circle’

for some time, before joining the band ‘Crusaders’ between
1986 and 1988. He then moved to Delhi in 1990, where he
remained for the next three decades.
Incidentally, when Franky had arrived in Delhi, he had
the opportunity to befriend another Goan musician, James
Rebelo of Seraulim, who was planning to return along with
his family to Goa after a stint in Delhi for about 2 years.
Little did Franky know that he and James had an unex-
pected music connection with ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’.
Franky’s father, Custodio, and José Gracias, the cousin of
James’ mother, Carmen, had performed together several de-
cades earlier.
“In Delhi, I first started playing with Joe Santana and his
Jazz Quintet at the Oberoi Hotel for about two years.”
“I would meet Joe Santana’s father (popularly known as
“Congress”), himself an accomplished drummer, during our
shows in Oberoi. I remember that “Congress” once told me
he used to play along with Joe Perry and Chris Perry. He
said such was Joe Perry’s fluency with music, that he once
quickly wrote the entire score of a music which was being
played at a movie. He would write notes on any kind of pa-
per, including cigarette wrappers.”
Again, what Franky did not realise at the time was that
there was yet an indirect link between Joe Santana and ‘Joe
Blues’. Joe Santana was baptised with the name of his god-
father, Joe Perry, who incidentally, had been the inspiration
behind ‘Joe Blues’ and had been a close friend of Franky’s
father, Custodio, and many musicians from that band.
After Joe Santana and his Jazz Quintet, Franky then start-
ing playing as a trio at the Taj Palace for the next eight-and-
 125

half years, before moving to the Grand Hyatt as a piano soloist

for three years and the next five years as a duet. He also
taught music at a school in Delhi, besides giving private mu-
sic classes.
“I then stopped performing in hotels and turned to a
full-time music teacher. In 2014, the Taj Mahal hotel could
not find a suitable pianist to accompany an American jazz
singer and they then invited me to perform with the singer
for about three months.”
“When that contract ended, the Taj Mahal hotel asked
me to form a trio and play classical music in the hotel, where
I played for the next six years, until the Covid pandemic
brought my music sessions to an abrupt end.”
Incidentally, this project unearthed yet another connec-
tion for Franky and his brother.
What Franky and his brother, Antonio, did not know is
that Antonio’s close friend, Estevao Dourado, was the son of
Cypriano Dourado, a musician who performed along with
their father, Custodio, in ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’.
Damask Braganza, Dongrim–Majorda (1929-1975)
Inacio José Gomes of Dongrim–Majorda, who resides barely
200 metres from the Braganza house, said Damask (Damaso)
Braganza was the son of Pedro João Braganza of Majorda
and Martinha Dourado of Velsao.
Damask’s father, Pedro, was employed on passenger shi-
ps between Bombay and Goa. He could also play the violin.
Damask had two brothers, Dominic and Robert.
“Damas was relatively short, about 5.4 feet, wheatish in
complexion, stocky built and handsome. In fact, the person
who taught music to Damas was José Lino Pereira, a bache-
126

lor living in Calata-Majorda.”

“I was barely 4-5 years old when I remember Damask
practising his trumpet and I would run to his house to hear
him practice. Damask could play the grand piano and he
even played the piano for the wedding of a prominent cou-
ple of the village. He also played the violin and I have even
seen his violin in their house.”
“Damask was a very gifted musician and performed in
Bombay, Delhi and in Calcutta. He might have gone to Bom-
bay in 1958. He fell in love and married Mary, a beauti-
ful girl from Dhobitalao, Bombay. He then brought Mary
to Majorda to stay with his mother, Martinha. They had
three children, a girl, Martha, and two boys, Peter (Pittu)
and Terry,” said Gomes.
Gomes said the family eventually shifted to Delhi in 1971
and he even visited the Braganza family at their home in
Delhi while attending a sports event in February 1973.
“I was told that Damask sadly died in an accident when
he fell off a two-wheeler as a pillion rider after a show in
Delhi sometime in 1974-75. I wish I had met Damask more
often and our interaction could have been much more solid
and valuable,” said Gomes.
Gomes also recalled two shows involving Damask, one
in Majorda and the other in Dongrim-Nuvem.
“My mother mentioned to me about the wedding recep-
tion of Pedrinho Pereira and Maria Santana D’Sa at a house
in Majorda. Damask was asked to play the piano at this
wedding reception,” recalled Gomes.
“It is unclear from where Damask managed to get the
piano, but my mother told me that Damask succeeded in
transporting the piano on a bullock cart to the venue of the
 127

wedding reception.”
“It must have been some challenge for Damask to trans-
port the piano in that mode of transport, which was made
more difficult by the fact that there were no tarred roads in
Majorda and the mud roads were uneven and rough at the
time. It is possible that Damask may even have sat on the
bullock cart, to prevent any damage to the instrument and
to ensure it reached safely to and from the venue,” recalled
Gomes.
“I was told that Damask played the piano so beautifully
that guests at the reception were in awe of his performance.”
Gomes made reference to another incident at Dongrim-
Nuvem, which was narrated to him by a friend.
“There was a function at the residence of the D’Sa family
at Dongrim-Nuvem after the celebration of the First Mass
by Fr Pobre Nazareth D’Sa and Damask was invited to per-
form at that event. It so happened that word spread in the
area and a huge crowd gathered at the venue to witness his
performance at the event, such was his reputation at the
time.”
“However, the venue was overcrowded and Damask cou-
ld not perform at the event, much to the disappointment of
the crowd,” recalled Gomes.
Acclaimed jazz musician, music composer and arranger
Anthony (Toni) Pinto, originally from Socorro but presently
based in Toronto-Canada and active in music since 1953,
described Damask as a “great player in the modern vein.”
Like Damask, Pinto had also performed with Ken Mac
and other leading musicians.
“I’ve known Damask personally. He played in Ken Mac’s
band in those good old years. Pity he passed away so early
128

in a motorbike accident. Very quiet man of few words. May

he Rest In Peace,” said Pinto.
Pinto and Damask had another music connection: both
of them played with Norman Mobsby. “Norman was my
saxophone player and was proclaimed as Bombay’s best te-
nor man who doubled on clarinet,” recalled Pinto.
Pinto, who plays the piano, violin, drums and accordion,
also led his own Jazz Quartet at Ambassador Hotel (1958-
74) in Bombay and played in Bollywood for 34 years with
practically every known music director.
As mentioned earlier, Damask died in a tragic road mis-
hap at Delhi in 1975.
“I have not seen my grandfather because he passed away
at a young age and much before I was born. I remember my
mum, Martha Cordeiro, telling me that he use to play with
Chris Perry,” recalled Valarie D’Souza.
“I was told by my aunt that my grandfather was a great
musician in his time. He was of good build and loved his
food.”
The sudden and untimely demise of Damask Braganza
had left the family with challenges they had to confront.
“He sadly passed away at the young age of 46 years, leav-
ing behind his wife, Martha, daughter and two boys. On ac-
count of financial difficulties, they had to sell off his trum-
pet and his wife had to start all over again,” said Valarie.
“My grandmother worked in the housekeeping section
at Claridges Hotel in Delhi and worked there till her retire-
ment. She got her daughter, Martha, married to William
Cordeiro. Her older son, Peter, also joined her at the same
hotel in the F&B section. Their younger son has a disabil-
ity and after the death of my grandmother, we brought him
 129

to Goa and my mum looked after him.” Since my mother’s

health started deteriorating, she arranged for him to stay in
a home ‘Karunalaya’ in Pirna-Bardez.”
Though Valarie was born in Delhi, her family moved to
Goa in 1991, when she was 10 years old. Valarie’s family
were residing in Borda-Margão and during that time, were
the neighbours of John D’Souza and his family. Now, John
was born and brought up in Poona, but his family relocated
to Borda-Margão.
The two of them eventually got married in 2002 and some
years later, moved to the UK.
Incidentally, John played the keyboard with a number of
bands such as ‘Bad Blood’ and ‘Fantasy’ (Goa), ‘Shankara’
(a rock band in Bombay) and KGB (Kamat Goan boys).
There was yet another musical connection between John
and one musician who had performed with ‘Joe Blues’.
John had also played with Chris Perry’s son, Errol, in ho-
tels and he would not have known that his wife’s grandfa-
ther and his bandmate’s father were members of ‘Joe Blues’
a few decades earlier.
As mentioned in an earlier section, it does appear strange
that a musician from Majorda relocates to Delhi and years
later, his granddaughter returns to Goa, stays in Borda-Mar-
gão and marries a man who relocated from Poona and re-
sides in the vicinity of three bandmates from Borda-Margão,
while he also happened to play music with the son of yet an-
other bandmate.
And then, the band playing at the granddaughter’s wed-
ding reception includes two musicians from the band who
had their fathers also in the same bands (‘Joe Blues’ and
‘Music Lovers’) as the musician from Majorda!
130

The musical legacy of Damask Braganza and John D’Sou-

za has been passed on to the two sons of John and Valarie.
“I’m glad my sons are into music. My older son, Isaiah is
17 years and he studies digital music here in England. He
plays drums, keyboard and guitar. My younger son, Elijah,
is only 6, but has an interest in piano,” says Valarie.
Valarie mentioned that the mortal remains of her grand-
parents, Damask and Mary, have been placed in a tomb at
a cemetery in Delhi, where they have been laid to rest.
Damaso Gomes, Navelim (11 Dec 1922–22 Dec 1984)
Damaso Gomes and his elder brother, John, both played
drums in the family while their brother Lume, played the
banjo and guitar.
Incidentally, John’s sons, Rocky and Hercules are also dr-
ummers, making them a family of drummers!
“I believe my uncle, Damaso, was inspired by my dad,
John, and initially used my father’s drum kit for shows,” re-
called Rocky Gomes.
“As a teenager, I remember watching my uncle Damaso
playing drums and as a drummer, I would say that Latin
American Beats/Rhythm was his strength and he was at his
best playing Latin songs or instrumentals,” Rocky added.
Gustavo Henrique Carlos Francisco de Jesus Piedade da
Costa, Borda–Margão (1920–1991)
Gustavo da Costa was the elder brother of the band leader,
Alvito da Costa, and The Diary records his participation in
the band as a guest artiste who played the accordion and
guitar. Those who remembered Gustavo described him as
a tall, well-built and straight forward person.
As mentioned in an earlier section of this project, a news-
 131

paper clipping of the ‘Eve’s Weekly’ published in Bombay

(now Mumbai) on 4 March 1954, which is preserved in The
Diary, makes some mention of Gustavo leaving for Portu-
guese East Africa and his departure by the SS Karanja.
Interestingly, a handwritten note by the side of the news-
paper cutting describes Gustavo da Costa as a “former man-
ager” of ‘Joe Blues’, indicating that he may have replaced his
elder brother, Alvito, at some point in time.
“I have very fond memories of my granduncle, Gustavo,
as he looked after me for about six years, till his demise in
1991. However, he spoke very little about his music or, for
that matter, even the music of my grandfather, Alvito,” said
Alvito (Suraj) da Costa.
“In fact, my granduncle never wanted me to pursue mu-
sic, either as a hobby or as a profession, actively deterring
me from getting into music. He knew about the negative in-
fluence that music had had on my grandfather towards the
final years of his life and he did not want me to fall into a
similar situation.”
“Such was his determination to keep me away from mu-
sic that he would speak to me about anything and every-
thing other than music. He did not even keep a guitar in
the house, even though he was a guitarist himself,” added
Suraj.
As a result, Suraj took little interest in music and it was
while in college that he realised his fondness for dance.
“I took great interest in dancing and performed with ma-
ny troupes and at several shows, both in Goa and Dubai. I
even won a number of dance contests.”
Suraj recalled that his granduncle, Gustavo, had worked
in Macau for a number of years.
132

“He mentioned to me that he had risen from a simple

clerk to the chief general secretary of Macau, before he re-
tired from service and returned to Margão. I think his final
position in service was even inscribed on 2 Omega watches
he had received as a token of appreciation for his services,”
said Suraj.
Gustavo, who remained a bachelor, passed away in Borda,
Margão on 14 March 1991.

Ignatius Fernandes, Benaulim (9 Mar 1912–25 Mar 1978)

Ignatius Fernandes was a trumpet player and a guest artiste
in ‘Music Lovers’ and he was already described in the list
of musicians as a ‘band leader’, indicating that he may had
had a band of his own while he was also playing with ‘Music
Lovers’.
This was confirmed (as mentioned in a previous section)
that Ignatius had formed the band ‘Ignatius and his Swing
Band’ from Benaulim, with his son, Mariano, also playing
the banjo in the band.
Conceicao Bernardo Diogo da Silva, better known by his
stage name Connie M, is a drummer from Per-Seraulim and
has fond memories of Ignatius.
“I was a teenager when I began playing the drums for
Ignatius and his Swing Band in 1967. All other members
were far more senior to me. I remember Ignatius as a nice
and jovial person. He had superb showmanship. He would
go on the dance floor and play the trumpet alongside the
crowd,” said Connie M.
Incidentally, Connie M then went on to play with Custo-
dio Inacio Cardozo, another musician from ‘Music Lovers’,
in his CIC band.
 133

Mariano’s son, Ignatius, recalled that he was named af-

ter his grandfather, Ignatius, who also happened to be his
godfather.
“I have few memories of my grandfather. My first mem-
ory of him was when I was about 6 years old and I watched
him play at a wedding in Club Harmonia in Margão. I went
crazy looking at my grandfather playing the trumpet, espe-
cially when he would play his trumpet on the dance floor,”
recalled Ignatius.
“On another occasion, there was a wedding at a house in
our locality. I had gone to watch my grandfather play and
he made me sit on the drums and play a song, even though
I was barely 6 years old!”
The musical legacy of Ignatius was passed on to his son,
Mariano, and then to Ignatius, who went on to be a promi-
nent drummer himself.
While still only around 12 years, Ignatius began playing
the drums for the well-known band ‘Limits’ and later, while
in the SSC, joined another leading band, ‘Symphony’. A few
years later, Ignatius and Louis D’Silva, a keyboard player
from ‘Symphony’, set up their own band, ‘The Big City Band’,
which became one of Goa’s prominent bands.

José Xavier da Piedade Gracias, Borda–Margão (2 May 1929–

6 Jan 2003)
José Gracias stopped performing at shows and eventually
gave up playing the guitar altogether. But as can be seen
in the preceding sections of this project, he was actively fol-
lowing music through audio and print, while also meeting
up with his musician friends, whenever he could.
“My father would attend music concerts and look for-
134

ward to meeting his musician friends. In fact, he would

constantly talk about music and musicians at our home,”
recalls Tony Gracias, his son.
“Whenever he bumped into musicians along the way, he
would invariably stop for a chat. I once recall accompany-
ing my father as a young boy, when he stopped to chat with
a musician friend by the roadside at Margão market and
soon, they were engrossed in conversation.”
“It was only after his friend left, that my dad realised he
had not introduced me to the musician. He then told me
that he had been in conversation with the famed drummer,
Victor Shreeves. But by the time I looked towards the direc-
tion of Shreeves, he had already gone,” said Tony Gracias.
Throughout his life, José Gracias was always in awe of his
two friends and supremely gifted musicians, Joe Perry and
Alvito da Costa, with a feeling of sadness, because neither
of them were destined to reach the peak of their musical
brilliance.
“In fact, my dad took a particular fondness to my close
friend, Suraj, especially because he was Alvito da Costa’s
grandson,” said Tony.
José Gracias also cherished his close friendship with Chris
Perry, not because Perry was already a household name in
Konkani music, but because their friendship went back over
five decades right from Joe Perry, while Chris and Paul Perry
were bandmates for a number of shows with ‘Joe Blues’ in
the mid-1950s. This was well before Chris Perry earned glo-
bal fame for his Konkani music.
“Chris Perry would invariably gift some LPs of his Kon-
kani hits, with some of them autographed by the legendary
Goan musician, as well as passes for his shows in Goa. He
 135

even seemed to have remembered my dad’s birthday and

signed his LP ‘Concanim Hits’ with the message ‘Dear Joe,
Many Happy Returns of 6th May, from Chris Perry (4th May
1972)’. He would regularly visit Chris Perry during his re-
hearsals at his residence and after these sessions, they would
chat for a long time,” recalls Tony.
Incidentally, The Diary includes a card from the Perry
Brothers containing the photos of Joe, Chris and Paul Perry,
with the handwritten message, “With compliments from Per-
ry Brothers.
Among the hundreds of music sheets in the trunk of José
Gracias is a handwritten note by Chris Perry, written from
‘Labella’ in Fort, Bombay on 30 October 1961. It states: “Dear
Joe, Here I’m sending a few programmes (souvenirs) which I
performed at a concert in Calcutta, and it was a great suc-
cess. You can distribute them to some of your friends. Chris.”
Adds Philomena Gracias: “The LPs gifted by Chris Perry,
along with The Diary, music sheets and music magazines
were among my husband’s prized possessions. So much so,
that The Diary was locked in his cupboard and our children,
Anastasia (Tasi) and Tony, were not allowed to even touch
the book when they were young.”
When Chris Perry died in Margão on 25 January 2002,
José Gracias attended the funeral despite being stricken with
cancer. About a year later, José Gracias reunited with his de-
parted musician friends in heaven when he passed away on
6 January 2003.
Though he never told me so in our interactions during
the last three years of his life when I entered the family and
married his daughter, Anastasia (Tasi), I could always sense
some satisfaction in his heart that his son-in-law had been
136

closely following music and musicians, having played the

keyboard at some point in his life.
A relative of José Gracias was James Rebelo, a well-known
drummer among musicians in Goa, having played with the
‘Visions’, ‘Climax’, ‘The Limit’, ‘Seby and the Wings’ (Delhi),
‘Sky’ (Delhi), ‘New Generation’, ‘Lynx’, ‘Rhythm & Blues’ and
‘Status 4’. James could have gone on to attain further heights
in music, but his life came to a tragic and an untimely end
when he died in a road mishap on 29 November 2007, at the
young age of 46 years.
James’ wife, Vera, is passionate about music and has been
an award-winning dancer, while their daughters, Marushka
and Nadia, have been talented singers and Nadia has now
gained fame as a fado singer, while also singing with vari-
ous bands.
José Gracias has another relative, incidentally sharing the
same first and last name, who is also a musician. José Car-
los da Veiga Gracias has been playing the guitar for shows
at hotels and other venues in different parts of Goa.
Aanora, the daughter of Tony Gracias, has taken interest
in music and won a singing contest at the age of 6 in August
2018.
What makes this particular contest significant to this pro-
ject is the fact that the ‘Showcase 2018 Competition’ was or-
ganised by The Hungry Mind Activity Centre, which is run
by Andrea Menezes Crasto and her sister, Vanessa Menezes,
grandnieces of Anacleto Figueiredo.
Having won the first prize in the Under-8 category, Aano-
ra received her prize from Vanessa. It was yet another mu-
sical connection as the granddaughter of one bandmate in
this project had won in a contest organised by the grand-
 137

nieces of another bandmate!

Incidentally, Vanessa had even provided an opportunity
to Aanora and the other first place winners of the ‘Show-
case 2018 Competition’ to record their songs/poetry at All
India Radio (AIR) in Panjim. The programme was aired on
14 October 2018 at 10 am on the Mhadei Channel of AIR.
Lawrence Luis, Shiroda (22 Feb 1907–11 Apr 1983)
Victor Luis, who is presently based in Vasco, recalled that
his father, Lawrence, had been a trombone player, who cou-
ld also play the violin. In The Diary, Lawrence, has also
been described as an arranger and composer.
“He served as a Mestri at the St Anthony Church in Panch-
wadi and then played at the Taj Mahal hotel in New Delhi
for many years. Later, he went to Bahrain and played in
the police band for 11 years. He also played in Bombay.
While in Goa, he played in local bands and even at the Kala
Academy in Panjim,” recalled Victor.
Perhaps, one of his most notable performances may have
been to perform along with 115 leading musicians with Bom-
bay’s leading voices at the Grand Choral and Philharmonic
Concert, composed and conducted by the legendary Goan
musician, composer and arranger, Anthony Gonsalves at St
Xavier’s College Quadrangle, Bombay, on 15-16 April 1958.
“My father’s musical legacy has now been passed on to
my son, Henzil, who plays the violin in choirs,” he added.
Pascoal Antonio Fernandes, Pedda–Benaulim (11 Apr 1932–
22 Oct 1958)
At the time of his untimely demise at the young age of 26
years, Pascoal’s wife, Caroline Baptista, was six months preg-
nant with their second daughter.
138

“We came down from Kampala to Goa for good in 1970

and no one said much about Pascoal, neither did I ask my
dad when I was small, as he was always a very quiet and
reserved person. In fact, it was only when I was in my late
teens that I knew my dad played the violin,” said Manuel
Fernandes, nephew of Pascoal.
“He only opened up slowly after my trips from the Gulf,
and would come and sit next to me. That’s when I asked
him once about his brother. He did tell me about the in-
struments he played, although I never asked him about the
name of his band. My father did also say that Chris Perry
used to come home many times to practise with Pascoal.”
“I still recall we had a photo of Pascoal with the saxo-
phone and one at his funeral, up on the wall of the house.
However while painting the house, they were kept aside and
the white ants destroyed these precious photos.”
“I used to go to the house of Pascoal’s wife, Caroline, to
see her when I was down in Goa. I did ask her if she had any
photographs of him, she used to laugh and say, “God knows
where they are lying around,” added Manuel Fernandes.
Fortunately, a clear photo of Pascoal Antonio Fernandes
with his beloved saxophone, which has been preserved in
The Diary, can be used to reprint copies for the families and
relatives, thereby keeping memories of Pascoal Fernandes
alive for posterity.
Manuel’s mother, Lucinda D’Sa e Fernandes did not have
memories of Pascoal as a family member as she was mar-
ried to Pascoal’s younger brother, José Filipe, in 1960, two
years after Pascoal’s demise, but she had some memories
of Pascoal prior to her marriage.
“My mother was from Comba-Margão and recalled Pas-
 139

coal as a musician who was very vibrant on stage. She at-

tended a few weddings where his band had played,” said
Manuel.
A number of relatives of Pascoal Fernandes were involved
in music. Pascoal’s brother could play the violin, though
he did not pursue music as a profession. Pascoal’s nephew,
Manuel Fernandes, was founder member of the band ‘Cross-
roads’ in Goa in 1989, while Pascoal’s grandson, Vellon Fer-
nandes, was a keyboard player with ‘Seby and the Wings’
for some years, before pursuing a career as a music teacher.
A relative of Pascoal was married to his bandmate, Pedro
Santana Fernandes, and Pedro’s son, Mercy, was fluent with
a number of instruments.
Mercy had taught Manuel some rudiments in music dur-
ing his summer holidays and Manuel still refers to Mercy as
“Mestri”.
“Pascoal’s father and the grandfather of my mother, Filo-
mena Vales, were both brothers,” explained Mercy.
Pascoal was the cousin of Mercy’s maternal grandmother,
but a closer musical relationship developed between Pas-
coal and his cousin’s son-in-law, Pedro Santana Fernandes.
“Pascoal bought his alto saxophone from my father, Pe-
dro Santana, who also used to service Pascoal’s saxophone,”
said Mercy.
“Besides being a musician, Pascoal was also a very good
carpenter and fishing was his other hobby. My mother, Filo-
mena, recalled that Pascoal’s wife, Caroline, went to Bom-
bay after his death in search of work.”
Incidentally, Manuel’s maternal grandfather was a musi-
cian, Alexinho D’Sa from Comba-Margão.
140

This project revealed a number of coincidences for Ma-

nuel.
Pascoal Fernandes and his bandmate, José Gracias, had
an unusual connection. Pascoal’s nephew, Manuel, and Ja-
mes Rebelo, the son of Carmen Rebelo of Seraulim who was
the first cousin of José Gracias, were to team up on two oc-
casions.
“Both James Rebelo and I played for the Loyola School
choir and while he played the bongos, I was on the guitar.
Later, I also played for his folk troupe just before leaving for
the Gulf in 1997,” said Manuel.
“Then again, Ravi Coutinho used to carry his guitar to
the Chowgule College canteen and belt out songs. He was
an inspiration to me and I have now realised that he was
connected indirectly to my uncle, Pascoal, who was a band-
mate of Ravi’s father. Never would have crossed anyone’s
mind then.”
“And later, Ravi teams up with my relative, Mercy Fernan-
des, in a band, again connected through their fathers who
were also bandmates,” said Manuel.
Pedro Santana Fernandes, Assolna (2 Feb 1924-16 Apr 2007)
If two sets of brothers – Chris/Paul Perry and Casmiro/Peter
Lobo – had been involved in ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’
at some point in time, the band also had another set of rel-
atives, Pascoal Antonio Fernandes and Pedro Santana Fer-
nandes.
Mercy Fernandes said his father, Pedro Santana, had been
a musician first and then a seafarer.
“He was the youngest of three siblings, his two sisters be-
ing elder to him. My father studied at the Regina Martyrum
 141

Church School of Music in Assolna, where I guess, music

was the only subject taught at that time.”
“He lost his father when he was very young, forcing my
father to give up playing music and to join the ship. Since
he was underage, he had to change his date of birth to be
eligible for selection,” recalled Mercy.
“It was only on his return after signing off from the ship that
he would go to play with different bands and musicians. He
was the first musician in his family and while his brother-
in-law, José Paul, also played trumpet, he wasn’t a serious
musician.”
Mercy recalled that his father was very strict when it came
to playing music and he would not tolerate anyone commit-
ting mistakes during a performance.
“Besides being a freelancer, my father also formed his
own band ‘The Melody Makers’ and most of the music they
played were his own compositions. I still have some of his
music,” said Mercy.
“My brother, Olympio, and I are grateful to our father for
having taught us music. In the early 1970s, my father intro-
duced us into his band. I played the tenor sax, while my
brother Olympio played the trumpet.”
“As far as I know, my father also played with most of the
Salcete bands such as ‘Music Lovers’ (Margão), ‘Radio Ser-
enaders’ (Chinchinim), ‘Len and his Rangers’, ‘Luis and his
Melodians’ (Benaulim), ‘Ignatius and his Swing band’ (Be-
naulim), ‘C.I.C Band’, Chris Perry, etc. There are others, but
I can’t recall their names. Many of these bands have used
his compositions.”
“He gave up active playing sometime in 1983, a time when
there was a slow transition from swing music to beat groups.
142

By that time, I had formed my own group ‘The Ebony’ and

after we split, we formed ‘Muzik Mann’,” added Mercy.
What, however, was not known to them at the time was
that Mercy and Ravi Coutinho, his bandmate in ‘Muzik Mann’
and ‘Pure Magic’ for 24 years, had both their fathers, Pedro
Santana Fernandes and Ronaldo Coutinho, playing along-
side each other in ‘Music Lovers’.
Mercy, who plays the keyboard, saxophone and flute, ini-
tially formed a family band ‘Melody Makers’ and later form-
ed the band ‘Ebony’. He went on to be part of the popular
bands ‘Muzik Mann’ and ‘Pure Magic’, before turning into a
solo artist, where he performs at hotels and shows.

Ronaldo Roque Carmo Coutinho, Borda-Margão (22 Mar

1929–2 Oct 2013)
As mentioned in an earlier section of this project, Ronaldo
Coutinho was born into a family of musicians.
His father, José Roque Piedade Coutinho, was a violin-
ist and Band Master of the 10/6th Rajputana Rifles in Delhi.
He was a celebrated musician, arranging music for the ‘Ra-
jRif Band’ and directing the band at leading shows.
Documents preserved by Oliver Coutinho of Margão, the
grandson of Roque Piedade, reveal that the ‘RajRif Band’
performed under the direction of R Coutinho at a farewell
dinner to the Viceroy and the Marchioness of Linlithgow at
the Roshanara Club in Delhi on 11 October 1943. One of the
performances included the Farewell March by Coutinho.
A few days later, R P Coutinho led the band at the Farewell
Banquet in honour of the Viceroy and the Marchioness of
Linlithgow by the Ruling Princes of India at the Roshanara
Club in Delhi on 15 October 1943.
 143

R P Coutinho’s sons, José Joaquim Camilo Vivian Coutin-

ho (11 May 1927–22 April 2007) and Ronaldo, both played
the guitar and were accomplished musicians.
While he was still with ‘Music Lovers’, Ronaldo worked
with Salgaocar e Companhia in a sub-division known as Ag-
encia Geral Private Limited.
His relative contented life took an unexpected turn when
the Portuguese government accused him of anti-national
activities and sent him to jail from 1958 to 1960. Following
his release, he continued to work in the same company, but
his son, Ravi, admits that the experience in jail was such
that his father was never really the same again.
Coutinho later went into a partnership with Hotel Col-
mar Private Limited and ran the hotel’s restaurant ‘Dolphin’
from 1980 to 1987, before turning into the manufacture of
artificial cane and its products at the Verna Industrial Es-
tate. He eventually sold the company in 1999 and retired.
Ronaldo Coutinho, his wife Maria do Ceu, Vivian and his
wife, Luiza, were members of a choir led by Fr Antonio da
Costa at the Holy Spirit Church in Margão (1970-1973).
Fr da Costa mentions (in another section of this project)
that Ronaldo and Vivian “had also participated in several
recordings of Mandos, Dulpods, Deknnis as well as sacred
music at the All India Radio (AIR) Goa for future broadcasts.”
Ravi believes that his mum Maria do Ceu and aunt, Luiza,
had also participated in these recordings at the AIR.
Ravi recalled that his parents entertained a fair bit with
music, “recorded of course and mostly jazz. Their friends
were a group of people mostly the same lot. Chris Perry
never forgot his old friends. My parents always had guest
passes at all of Chris Perry’s shows in Goa and they attended
144

most of those shows.”

Ravi said he had attended many of Chris Perry’s impromp-
tu jams and followed by BBQs at his residence. “I used to
drop in most evenings and Mr Perry took a liking to me, pos-
sibly since I was the son of Ronaldo Coutinho, but he liked
hanging with the youngsters. Only a privileged lot stayed
on for the drinks and BBQ sessions as and when they hap-
pened,” added Ravi.
Ravi had memories of Chris Perry as a regular visitor to
his house and even narrated an impromptu performance
by Chris Perry’s son, Glenn.
“Glenn Perry was in town at the time and it must have
been around 1974-75 or so, while I was still in school. Chris
Perry was invited to a family function and he brought Glenn
along. I used to own a classical guitar.”
“Chris then told Glenn to sing something for the guests
and he asked my dad if we had a guitar. I brought my guitar
out and Glenn did an impromptu one-man act for a good
30 minutes. The songs weren’t familiar to my young mind
for sure,” recalled Ravi.
Maria do Ceu and Ronaldo, fondly known as Piti, were
married a few years after he had stopped playing with ‘Joe
Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’ and so, she did not have first-hand
experiences of her husband’s performances in the band.
She, however, shared some recollections of his relation-
ship with many of the musicians in the band, indicating
that this camaraderie extended beyond music.
“I recall Piti telling me that musicians would come for
music rehearsals at his house. Since some of them would
come from far and wide, my mother-in-law would insist
on keeping these musicians back for lunch,” said Maria do
 145

Ceu.
“On another occasion, Ronaldo even asked me to repre-
sent him at one function of Alvito da Costa.”
“Chris Perry, another musician who played at some shows
with ‘Joe Blues’, was a family friend and he would regularly
visit our house along with his family,” she added.
Ronaldo was also involved in sacred music, taking part
in the Holy Spirit Church Choir, Margão, on 24 December
1971 alongside his brother, Vivian, and their wives. He also
participated in other choir performances.
Ronaldo continued his friendship with Chris Perry, Sarto
Almeida, Lucio and José Costa (the first being the legendary
musician, the next two being leading architects who desig-
ned the church of the Carmelite Monastery in Margão, while
the last, José, was a textile designer in Bombay), who were
also musicians known to him. Ronaldo passed away on
October 2, 2013.
As mentioned earlier in this section, another member in
the band, Anacleto Figueiredo, had also played with Sarto
and Lucio in Bombay.
Ravi is a third-generation Coutinho family musician. He
began with his first school band ‘The Vampires’ as a drum-
mer and then a guitarist at the young age of 11 years. For
former bandmates Ronaldo Coutinho and José Gracias, the-
re would be an unusual coincidence several years later. Cou-
tinho’s son, Ravi, and James Rebelo, the son of a cousin of
José Gracias, teamed up and were bandmates in the band
‘Climax’ (1983-84). Ravi continued his professional music
with ‘Muzik Mann’ (1984-95) and ‘Pure Magic’ (1995-2020).
As mentioned earlier, there was another coincidence as the
sons of Ronaldo Coutinho and Pedro Santana Fernandes
146

(Ravi and Mercy) were to perform as bandmates in the ‘Mu-

zik Mann’. While Ronaldo’s elder brother, Vivian, did not
perform along with ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’, he was
associated with the band members and had even played
some role in the music sheets used by them in the band.
As noted earlier, some music sheets preserved in the Gra-
cias residence at Borda-Margão reveal that they had been
copied and signed by Vivian, some as early as December
1950, nearly three years before ‘Joe Blues’ was formed and
possibly, when the Quartet was in existence at the time. “In-
cidentally, my uncle Vivian was my godfather and I have
memories of him being a guitar player,” recalled Ravi. Like
his younger brother Ronaldo, Vivian has also left behind a
musical legacy. His granddaughter, Anushka, is a soprano
and a classical pianist, recently inducted into the Sydney
Philharmonic Choir.
G IVEN some barriers within a socially structured Goan
society and the borders dividing different forms of mu-
sic in Goa at the time, it appears that musicians who did not
play classical or sacred music were not always destined to
achieve status in Goa. These musicians may have had some
following at Tiatrs or may have been in some demand at
weddings, parties and other events, but that did not always
assure many of them received name, fame and more impor-
tantly, a decent livelihood.
Despite their significant musical contributions at wed-
dings, shows and other events in the 1950s and early 1960s,
many of these Goan musicians from ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Mu-
sic Lovers’ were largely forgotten in Goa over the years. If
they died at a relatively young age, as in the case of musi-
cians like Joe Perry, Pascoal Antonio Fernandes, Damask
Braganza or Alvito da Costa, their memories would have
faded even faster. Except for their respective families, they
are today largely unsung, unheard and unrecognisable in
Goa and beyond.
Some of these Goan musicians who eventually became
household names and left a mark in society were those who
moved out of Goa and performed in the film industry in
Bombay or with noted orchestras, clubs and at hotels else-
where in the country, such as Bombay, Poona, Delhi or Cal-
cutta.
148

A few of these musicians had even performed at con-

certs, as mentioned in an earlier section of this project. But
such shows were far between and few and not all Goan mu-
sicians were privileged to have been part of such events.
Despite their two most productive years in 1957 (38 sho-
ws) and 1958 (45 shows), musicians in ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Mu-
sic Lovers’ had to work hard to earn a basic livelihood and
to make ends meet in Goa.
Narrating one such incident, Tony Gracias said: “My fa-
ther, José Gracias, recalled that during one of his visits to
the Perry house, Chris Perry was providing some music tips
to an upcoming musician.”
“During that time, Chris, reportedly turned to my father
and said: “These upcoming musicians earn so much de-
spite knowing so little. When we were upcoming musicians,
we had to practice really hard and yet, we earned so little de-
spite knowing so much”.”
Which is probably why, many musicians who chose to re-
main in Goa were unlikely to encourage their children to fol-
low in their footsteps. For instance, musicians like Ronaldo
Coutinho had downplayed his involvement as a musician
as he did not want his son, Ravi, to pursue music as a pro-
fession, while José Gracias was also not inclined to encour-
agehis son, Tony, to continue his musical legacy. That Ravi
persisted and eventually has become a well-known music-
ian in Goa today is another matter.
Franky Cardozo also recalled that his father, Custodio,
was also not favourable to the idea of his children becoming
professional musicians. “My father had a hard life as a mu-
sician, where the earning was very limited and was barely
enough to make ends meet,” said Franky.
 149

Similar sentiments were echoed by Mercy Fernandes.

“My father, Pedro Santana, was a seaman as well as a
musician (tenor saxophone), arranger and composer. He
wanted me and my brother, Olympio, to learn music as a
hobby but was reluctant that we should be full-time musi-
cians since he knew that the remuneration was meagre and
hardly rewarding for a profession,” recalled Mercy.
“I remember how difficult it used to be for him and the
other musicians to travel for their shows during those days
when wedding receptions and other shows were in distant
places like Canacona, Canaguinim and Cabo de Rama, with
no proper roads and very limited means of transport.”
“The first thing they would do is to engage 2-3 persons to
carry the drum set, double bass and their music stands on
their heads and send them in the morning, so as to reach
the venue well in time if it was a night wedding (10 pm to 6
am). The rest of the musicians would come later with their
respective instruments on their bicycles riding through dif-
ficult terrain with no proper roads and lights.”
“They were all passionate about their profession and mo-
st of them were well-trained musicians, good first sight read-
ers. This helped them get into any band and play with the
rest since all the bands used music sheets in those days.”
Mercy said his father and fellow musicians used to prac-
tise a lot and would spend hours in honing their skills, to
ensure there was no room for mistakes at any cost.
“Some band leaders used to get the standard music she-
ets for big bands from abroad while some used from popu-
lar Goan and Indian composers.”
“Earnings were not always good, but that did not stop
my father from pursuing his love for music. I’m grateful to
150

my father for introducing me to music. Music may not be

financially rewarding but the inner joy it gives is immense
and can’t be measured. He made it a point to get us to prac-
tice music as a hobby, but did not want me to pursue music
as a profession,” recalled Mercy.
Mercy, however, continued his father’s profession and
is a well-known musician in Goa today, having played the
keyboard with many bands such as ‘Melody Makers’, ‘The
Ebony’, ‘Muzik Mann’ and ‘Pure Magic’. He is now a solo
artiste, playing the saxophone and flute at some reputed
hotels in South Goa.
Musicians like Alvito da Costa may have been aware that
despite their original compositions and arrangements, per-
formances at dances and weddings in Goa would not al-
ways bring them big bucks, or prestige for that matter. But
that did not stop them from pursuing their passion and mis-
sion.
Overcoming all odds, these 37-odd musicians from ‘Joe
Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’ entertained people and touched
hearts at weddings, shows, dances and other events in Goa
between the 1950s and early 1960s, irrespective of whether
it earned them name or fame.
They overcame social barriers to play music together and
transcended musical borders with songs of various genres,
simply because of their passion for music and their convic-
tion that music knew no barriers or borders. After all, these
musicians valued competence and camaraderie, not social
and cultural differences.
Many of the musicians in this group depended on music
as a livelihood, while others performed for the sheer love
of music. But what brought them together was a collective
 151

passion to do something different: form an organisation to

pay tribute to a music genius and to perform and promote
music.
Sadly, at least five musicians associated with the Quar-
tet, the Quintet, ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’ – Pascoal Fer-
nandes (26), Joe Perry (28) Paul Perry (44), Alvito da Costa
(45) and Damask Braganza (46) – were never destined to
scale to greater musical heights and passed away at a young
age. These five highly talented musicians could easily have
made immense contributions to music, were they to have
lived longer.
In all, 72 pages of The Diary feature a rare collection of
26 photos, 20 newspaper cuttings, names of 37 musicians
and instruments they played, details of 168 shows, a reper-
toire of 133 songs, autographs, invitations, souvenirs and
mementos. In addition, three other photos of those musi-
cians are located in another album in the Gracias house.
A number of photos display images of unidentified mu-
sicians, while details on many of the 37 musicians are un-
known at this point in time. Most of these musicians from
‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’ have passed into the ages, tak-
ing with them priceless experiences of their music and their
times, much of which may never be known.
The quest to identify all 37-odd musicians who played a
part in ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Music Lovers’ is by no means over.
So far, a number of the 37 musicians have been identified
and many families have collaborated in this project. Efforts
will go on to identify the remaining musicians and to locate
the families of these musicians, so that their stories can also
be documented for posterity.
But what was published in the obituary on the first death
152

anniversary of their mentor, Joe Perry, on 28 August 1953

could well be modified and applied to these musicians as
well:
“Most of these musicians have passed, as everything passes.
But they did not die, because the greats do not die. Their
memories will last forever, because their blithe spirits, bound
to the Supreme Ideal of the Art, hover above, in the clouds,
deriding the materialities of this earth. May God have them
in his glory!”
The music and memories of these largely unsung music-
ians will, hopefully, live on, because there is now some reco-
rd of them, ensuring they are remembered, recognised and
respected. This tiny, but new, piece of Goa’s music heritage
can now be preserved for the next generation.
It is hoped that this music project will also inspire the
next generation like my daughter, Megan Rhea Misquita,
niece Aanora Xaviera Gracias and nephew Albern Xavier Gra-
cias, to appreciate and value the various collections and
memorabilia preserved in the house of their grandfather
José Gracias at Borda-Margão. May this next generation
also discover, in their own time, the joy of unearthing the
beautiful stories that emerge from cherished collections and
memorabilia in their family heritage.
The ‘Symphony of Passion’ has been an effort to piece
together the fascinating story about a group of Goan musi-
cians and their passion for music. This story is their Sym-
phony of Passion. But as this journey progressed, another
dimension began to emerge: a remarkable effort by many
families and friends, working in concert and with equal pas-
sion, to document this story. In this sense, it has also be-
come our Symphony of Passion.
The first page of The Diary which has been preserved in the
house of José Gracias in Borda-Margão. Image courtesy:
Philomena Gracias.
154

An extract from the A Vida (30 August 1953) remembering

the late Joe Perry and the aim of the band, as stated in The
Diary. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 155

Extracts from A Vida (31 December 1953) on the volleyball

tournament and photos of the ‘Joe Blues’ volleyball team.
Extracts from Diario de Goa (29 December 1953) on the
shows of ‘Joe Blues’. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias
156

An extract from ‘Diario de Noite’ regarding the New Year’s

eve dance performance of ‘Music Lovers’ at Hotel Mandovi
on 31 December 1956. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 157

The Perry brothers (Joe, Chris and Paul) send their

compliments to the ‘Joe Blues’. Image courtesy: Philomena
Gracias.
158

The first performance of ‘Joe Blues’ for a dance at Borda, to

mark the feast of St Joaquim Chapel at Borda-Margão on 16
August 1953. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.

An invitation regarding a show by ‘Joe Blues’ and ‘Radio

Serenaders’ at Hotel Aliados in Margão, on 1 March 1954.
Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 159

Extracts from A Vida regarding different volleyball matches

played by ‘Joe Blues’ at Benaulim in December 1953. Image
courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
160

Some of the band members of ‘Joe Blues’ and their

signatures, having performed at two shows. Image courtesy:
Philomena Gracias.
 161

An extract from the A Vida (4 September 1952) remembering

the late Joe Perry. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
162

An extract from Diario de Goa (23 December 1953) on a

performance by ‘Joe Blues’ in Belgaum on 20 November
1953. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 163

An extract from a souvenir paying tribute to Joe Perry as the

founder of a club known as “Football Lovers”. The ‘Joe Blues’
performed at this Christmas dance ‘Festa dos Amadores’
organised by the Clube Amadores de Margão in 1953. Image
courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
164

An extract from a souvenir featuring ‘Joe Blues’ and their

songs at the Christmas dance ‘Festa dos Amadores’
organised by the Clube Amadores de Margão in 1953. Image
courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 165

Extracts from A Vida (27 February 1954), O Heraldo (14

February 1954) and the invitation card regarding a show by
‘Joe Blues’ in Hubli on 13 February 1954. Image courtesy:
Philomena Gracias
166

An extract from A Vida (29 October 1958) regarding a

tribute to Pascoal Antonio Fernandes. Image courtesy:
Philomena Gracias.
 167

A letter written by ‘Music Lovers’ band leader Alvito da

Costa to Pedro Santana Fernandes on 10 May 1955. Image
courtesy: Mercy Fernandes.
168

The Chris Perry Revue at the New Empire cinema

auditorium, Calcutta, on September 24, 1961. Image
courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 169

Chris Perry and Paul Perry featured in two of their six shows
with ‘Joe Blues’. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias
170

The musicians who took part in the band. Image courtesy:

Philomena Gracias.
 171

A list of performances by ‘Joe Blues’ in 1953. Image courtesy:

Philomena Gracias.
172

Some of the performances by ‘Joe Blues’ in 1954. Image

courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 173

A note by the band leader Alvito da Costa on 6 June 1954

stating the transition in name from ‘Joe Blues’ to ‘Music
Lovers’. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
174

The first set of shows by the ‘Music Lovers’ in 1954 and 1955.
Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 175

Some of the songs performed by the ‘Music Lovers’. Image

courtesy: Philomena Gracias
176

Joe Perry and his signature on a music sheet on 2 January

1952. Photo courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 177

The ‘Joe Blues’ band. [Standing L to R] Ronaldo Coutinho,

José Gracias and Anacleto Figueiredo, [Sitting back]
Damaso Gomes, [Sitting front L to R] Antonio Moraes,
unidentified musician, unidentified musician, unidentified
musician, Alvito da Costa, and Pascoal Antonio Fernandes,
on the occasion of Pascoal’s birthday on 11 April 1954.
Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias
178

The ‘Joe Blues’. [Standing L to R behind] José Gracias and

Ronaldo Coutinho [Sitting behind] Damaso Gomes
[Standing front] unidentified musician, unidentified
musician, Alvito da Costa, and Pascoal Antonio Fernandes
[Standing behind] Antonio Moraes, on the occasion of
Pascoal’s birthday on 11 April 1954. Image courtesy:
Philomena Gracias.
 179

The ‘Joe Blues’. [Sitting back] Damaso Gomes, [Standing

Back L to R] Ronaldo Coutinho and José Gracias, [Sitting
Front L to R] Antonio Moraes, unidentified musician,
unidentified musician, Alvito da Costa and Pascoal Antonio
Fernandes, on the occasion of Pascoal’s birthday on 11 April
1954. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
180

The ‘Joe Blues’ band at a wedding in Carmona on 6 May

1954. [Standing L to R] Paul Perry, Alvito da Costa,
Custodio I Cardozo, José Gracias and Damaso Gomes
[Sitting L to R] Chris Perry and Lawrence Luis. Image
courtesy: Philomena Gracias
 181

The ‘Joe Blues’ perform at the wedding of L’Amar in

Cortalim on 5 May 1954. [Behind Centre] Damaso Gomes
[Front L to R] Custodio I Cardozo, Alvito da Costa, Paul
Perry, Chris Perry, Antonio Moraes, Ronaldo Coutinho and
José Gracias. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
182

The ‘Joe Blues’ at a Carmona wedding in May 1954. [L to R]

Chris Perry, Alvito da Costa, Paul Perry and José Gracias.
Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.

The ‘Music Lovers’ at a wedding in Margão in May 1957.

[Front L to R] Cypriano Dourado, unidentified musician,
Cajetan Vas, Pascoal Antonio Fernandes, [Behind L to R]
Damaso Gomes, José Gracias. Image courtesy: Philomena
Gracias.
 183

The ‘Music Lovers’ perform at the wedding of J Pacheco in

Margão on 2 July 1957. [Back L to R] unidentified musician,
unidentified musician, Damaso Gomes. [Front] José
Gracias. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
184

The ‘Music Lovers’ during the rehearsal for a programme at

Microfone Municipal, Margão on 2 March 1958. [Standing
L to R] Cypriano Dourado, Damaso Gomes, José Gracias,
Damask Braganza, Pascoal Antonio Fernandes [Sitting L to
R] unidentified musician and Custodio Inacio Cardozo.
Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 185

The ‘Music Lovers’ during the rehearsal for a programme at

Microfone Municipal, Margão on 2 March 1958. [Standing
L to R] unidentified musician, Cypriano Dourado, Damaso
Gomes, Custodio Inacio Cardozo [Sitting L to R] José
Gracias, Damask Braganza and Pascoal Antonio Fernandes.
Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
186

Pascoal Antonio Fernandes. Image courtesy: Philomena

Gracias.
 187

The ‘Music Lovers’ perform at the wedding of W Silveira in

Margão on 26 April 1959. [Standing L] José Gracias, [Sitting
L to R] Cajetan Vas, unidentified musician, unidentified
musician. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
188

The Music Lovers at a Club Harmonia (Margão) wedding,

Nov 1962. L-R: José Gracias (guitar), Luis Baptista (seated,
left), Custodio Cardozo (violin), and Caitulo and Camilo
Vaz (seated, right). Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.

[L-R] Unidentified musician, Victor Shreeves, Chris Perry,

José Gracias. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 189

Norman Mobsby and his orchestra with Damaso Braganza

and their autographs, at a performance at Park Street,
Calcutta, in Sept 1959. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
190

[L to R] Paul Perry and Alvito da Costa with their

saxophones interlocked, during a wedding in Carmona on
6 May 1954. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 191

[L to R] Pascoal Antonio Fernandes and Alvito da Costa in

the ‘Joe Blues’ orchestra. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
192

The ‘Joe Blues’ Volleyball team. [Standing L-R] Raul Dias,

José Gracias (captain–secretary), Antonio Noronha. [Sitting
L-R] Ronaldo Coutinho (manager), Francisco Souza,
Rosendo Souza, Camilo Souza and Alvito da Costa (band
leader).

[Standing L-R] José Gracias, Antonio Noronha, Raul Dias

[Sitting L to R] Camilo Souzo, Rosendo Souza, Francisco
Souza. Both images courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 193

Certificate of Membership of the Friends of Music USA to

the ‘Music Lovers’ Club of Goa (Chapter 142) on 26 May
1964. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
194

An obituary card of a Mass offered in 1979 by Chris Perry

and family. Below, another obituary card (Nov 1958). Both
images courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
 195

This LP ‘Concanim Hits’ which was autographed by Chris

Perry on 4 May 1972, wishing José Gracias on his birthday.
Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias from the original cover
by HMV.
196

The ‘Down Beat’ bi-weekly music magazine (10 September

1964). Dozens of such magazines have been preserved in the
residence of José Gracias in Borda-Margão. Image courtesy:
Philomena Gracias.
 197

A handwritten music sheet of the original song ‘Joe Blues’

composed and arranged by Alvito da Costa for the ‘Joe Blues’
band. Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
198

A handwritten music sheet of the song ‘Harlem’ by Custodio

Cardozo in Bangalore on 26 May 1944. Image courtesy:
Philomena Gracias.
 199

A handwritten and signed music sheet by Joe Perry of the

song ‘Ecstacy’, which had been composed/arranged by him.
Image courtesy: Philomena Gracias.
200

A handwritten and signed music sheet by Chris Perry (in

Calcutta) of the song ‘If you smile at the sun’, which was
arranged by him in “Joe Perry’s style”. Image courtesy:
Philomena Gracias.
 201

Cipriano Dourado of Utorda-Majorda playing the violin

during a litany at the home of Anthony Gonsalves about 30
years ago. Image courtesy: Laxmi Gonsalves.

Antonio Moraes along with his trophies at his residence in

Benaulim. Image courtesy: Seby Moraes.
202

Seated L-R: Pedro Santana Fernandes with sons Mercy and

Olympio in his band ‘Melody Makers’ of Assolna. Image
courtesy: Mercy Fernandes.

Camilo Vas of Rachol, over the years. Image courtesy (R):

Martin Vas of Rachol.
 203

Ronaldo Coutinho of Ignatius Fernandes of

Borda-Margão. Image Benaulim. Image courtesy:
courtesy: Ravi Coutinho. Ignatius Fernandes

Anacleto Figueiredo at home in Goa. Image courtesy:

Ryan Menezes.
204

Gustavo da Costa of Borda. Lawrence Luis of

Courtesy: Philomena Karai-Shiroda. Image
Gracias courtesy: Victor Luis.

Damask Braganza (Majorda) with his children (L-R),

Martha, Terry and Peter. Image courtesy: Valarie D’Souza
 205

The mortal remains of Damask Braganza and his wife,

Mary, have been placed in a tomb at a cemetery in Delhi,
where they have been laid to rest. Image courtesy: Valarie
D’Souza
206

The Orquestra Sinfonica de Goa, directed by Maestro

Antonio de Figueiredo, at Cine National Theatre, Panjim in
Feb 1952. Image courtesy: Gabriel de Figueiredo.

The Grand Choral and Philharmonic Concert conducted by

Anthony Gonsalves, at St Xavier’s College Quadrangle,
Bombay, in April 1958. Image courtesy: Laxmi Gonsalves.
The 137 shows performed by ‘Music Lovers’:
1954 [3 SHOWS]: Dance at Telaulim, dance at ABC Club,
Margão (25 December) and a wedding at Orlim.
1955 [14 SHOWS]: Wedding at Vasco (5 February), dance
at Benaulim (13 February) dance at ABC Club at Margão (19
February), wedding return event at Raia (21 February), con-
cert at Fatorda (10 April), wedding at Cansaulim (28 April),
dance at Sernabatim (7 May), dance at Benaulim (8 May),
wedding at Majorda (14 May), dance at Quepem (15 May),
dance at Benaulim (21 May), wedding at Carmona (31 Oc-
tober), wedding at Vasco (14 November), dance at Comba-
Margão (31 December).
1956 [22 SHOWS]: Dance at Pedda-Belaulim (11 Febru-
ary), dance at A.B.C. Club, Margão (12 February), dance at
Hotel Aliados, Margão (13 February), dance at ABC Club at
Margão (14 February), wedding at Curtorim (7 April), birth-
day party at Margão (11 April), wedding at Quepem (15 Ap-
ril), wedding at Raia (17 April), First Mass at Margão (3 May),
birthday party at Margão (14 May), dance at Curtorim (24
June), dance at Club Harmonia, Margão (19 August), wed-
ding at Benaulim (23 August), wedding at Loutulim (5 Sep-
tember), dance at Benaulim (7 October), dance at Colva (15
October), wedding return at Verna (11 November), dance
at Navelim (21 November), dance at Nagoa-Verna (23 De-
cember), day dance at Orlim (25 December), night dance at
208

Vasco (25 December) and dance at Hotel Mandovi, Panjim

(31 December).
1957 [38 SHOWS]: Party at Pajifond-Margão (6 January),
wedding at Benaulim (8 January), wedding return at Benau-
lim (22 January), dance at ABC Club, Margão (2 February),
birthday party at Margão (19 February), dance at Murida-
Nuvem (24 February), day wedding at Colva (27 February),
night wedding at Vasco (27 February), dance at Hotel Alia-
dos, Margão (5 March), dance at Vasco (21 April), day wed-
ding at Nuvem (23 April), wedding at Utorda (23 April), wed-
ding at Majorda (24 April), wedding return at Majorda (25
April), wedding at Varca (27 April), day wedding at Margão
(1 May), night wedding at Benaulim (1 May), wedding re-
turn at Cuncolim (9 May), wedding at Canacona (11 May),
dance at Varca (12 May), wedding at Sinquetim (14 May),
wedding at Nagoa (21 May), wedding return at Orlim (2 June),
wedding at Canacona (9 June), wedding at Sanvordem (18
June), wedding at Comba-Margão (2 July), wedding at Be-
naulim (14 July), wedding return at Colva (21 July), wed-
ding at Sanvordem (11 September), wedding at Benaulim
(15 October), wedding at Navelim (16 October), dance at
Murda-Nuvem (3 November), wedding at Rachol (6 Novem-
ber), dance at Varca (10 November), wedding at Colva (12
November), wedding at Benaulim (30 November), wedding
at Chandor (28 December), and dance at ABC Club at Margão
(31 December).
1958 [45 SHOWS]: Dance at Borda-Margão (1 January),
return wedding at Verna (11 January), dance at Seraulim
(16 January), wedding at Orlim (25 January), dance at Car-
mona (25 January), dance at Loutulim (26 January), wed-
ding return at Varca (27 January), wedding at Varca (28 Jan-
 209

uary), wedding at Nuvem (4 February), wedding at Majorda

(5 February), wedding at Margão (8 February), dance at As-
solna (11 February), wedding at Assolna (12 February), dan-
ce at Colva (15 February), dance at Margão (17 February),
dance at ABC Club, Margão (18 February), programme at
Microfone Municipal, Margão (2 March), dance at ABC Club,
Margão (6 April), dance at Colva (12 April), birthday party at
Nagoa-Verna (15 April), dance at Colva (26 April), wedding
return at Orlim (27 April), wedding return at Borda-Margão
(7 May), wedding at Varca (10 May), wedding at Vasco (11
May), dance at Varca (11 May), wedding at Colva (20 May),
wedding at Margão Club (25 May), dance at A.B.C. Club,
Margão (25 May), wedding at Sanvordem (28 May), dance
at Benaulim (31 May), wedding at Sao Matias (14 June), wed-
ding at Pedda-Benaulim (25 June), wedding return at San-
vordem (26 June), birthday party at Borda-Margão (6 Au-
gust), dance at Pedda-Benauim (15 August), dance at Borda
(17 August), wedding at Orlim (6 September), wedding at
Borda (30 September), wedding return at Cansaulim (5 Oc-
tober), wedding at Chinchinim (14 October), dance at Ho-
tel Aliados, Margão (8 December), dance at Cortalim (25
December), dance at ‘Casino’, Vasco (26 December) and a
wedding at Ambora.
1959 [5 SHOWS]: Wedding at Margão (26 April), wedding
at Cuncolim (26 May), wedding at Goa Velha (14 June), dan-
ce at Chinchinim (13 September) and wedding at Fatorda
(24 October).
1960 [4 SHOWS]: Wedding at Sanvordem (11 May), dance
at Curtorim (14 May), wedding in Margão (1 June) and dance
at Navelim (25 December).
1961 [1 SHOW]: Concert at Quepem (17 June)
210

1962 [3 SHOWS]: Dance at ABC Club, Margão (26 March),

wedding at Carmona (30 April) and wedding at Club Har-
monia, Margão (11 November).
1963 [2 SHOWS]: Party of Lions Club at Margão (18 Jan-
uary) and wedding at Margão (7 February).
A S with any exercise of this magnitude, collecting and
compiling details on dozens of musicians involves the
collaboration and support of relatives of these musicians
and a number of other people. I wish to express my pro-
found gratitude to the following people for their support
and collaboration to this music project.
Relatives of the Musicians

à T HE G RACIAS FAMILY: Philomena Gracias, Anastasia

(Tasi) Gracias Misquita and Tony Gracias, for
providing full and complete access to The Diary, the
LPs, music sheets, letters, obituary cards, magazines
and other music memorabilia preserved by José
Gracias, as well as information regarding José Gracias
and other musicians in the band.
à R AVINDRA (R AVI ) C OUTINHO: For information
regarding his father, Ronaldo Coutinho, and for his
constant support and collaboration to the project.
à A NACLETO F IGUEIREDO : For information regarding
his life, music and his association with musicians in
the band.
à FATIMA M IRANDA F IGUEIREDO : For information
regarding members of the Figueiredo family and for
her constant support and collaboration to the project.
à C ELINE F IGUEIREDO A NDREWS : For information
regarding some members of the Figueiredo family.
212

à C AROLINA F IGUEIREDO J AQUES : For information

regarding some members of the Figueiredo family
and for her suggestions to the project.
à M ERCIO (M ERCY ) F ERNANDES : For information
regarding his father, Pedro Santano Fernandes, for
helping identify other musicians and for his constant
support and collaboration to the project.
à S EBY M ORAES : For information regarding his father,
Antonio Moraes.
à A LVITO (S URAJ ) D A C OSTA : For information regarding
his grandfather, Alvito da Costa, and granduncle,
Gustavo da Costa.
à F RANKY C ARDOZO : For information on his father,
Custodio Inacio Cardozo, and other musicians, for his
constant support and collaboration to the project.
à M ANUEL (M ANU ) F ERNANDES : For information
regarding his uncle, Pascoal Antonio Fernandes, and
for his constant support and collaboration to the
project.
à V ELLON F ERNANDES : For information regarding his
grandfather, Pascoal Antonio Fernandes.
à ROCKY G OMES : For information regarding his uncle,
Damaso Gomes, and other musicians.
à E MMA D OURADO : For information regarding her
grandfather, Cipriano Dourado.
à M ARTIN AND J ERRY VAS : For information regarding
their father, Camilo Vas.
à V ICTOR LUIS : For information regarding his father,
Lawrence Luis.
 213

à I GNATIUS F ERNANDES : For information regarding his

grandfather, Ignatius Fernandes.
à VALARIE D’S OUZA : For information regarding her
grandfather, Damask Braganza.

Associates of the Musicians

à I NACIO J OSÉ G OMES : For information regarding

Damask Braganza.
à P ETER A NTAO : For assistance in locating a friend of
Damask Braganza.
à L AXMI G ONSALVES : For information regarding
Cipriano Dourado, his association with her father,
Anthony Gonsalves of Majorda, and the Grand Choral
and Philharmonic Concert, Bombay, on 15-16 April
1958.
à D R A NDRÉ R AFAEL F ERNANDES : For information
regarding his interview with Antonio Moraes and for
permission to publish a portion of his article detailing
the contribution of Antonio Moraes to Khell Tiatr.
à C ONCEICAO B ERNARDO D IOGO D A S ILVA (C OMMIE M):
For information regarding Ignatius Fernandes.
à A NTHONY ( T ONY ) P INTO : For information regarding
Damask Braganza.
à R AFAEL V IEGAS : For information regarding many
musicians in this project.

Collaborators to the Project

à F R J OAQUIM L OIOLA P EREIRA : For translating texts

from Portuguese to English, for his review of this
214

music project and for his constant support and

collaboration to the project.
à L EANDRO VAS : For translating some texts from
Portuguese.
à VALMIKI FALEIRO : For his foreword to this book,
providing details on musicians, for checking the
manuscript and for his constant support to the
project.
à B ARDROY B ARRETTO : For information regarding
Anthony Gonsalves and for his constant support and
collaboration to the project.
à V ELMA F ERNANDES : For her various inputs to this
project.
à S AVIO C ORREIA : For checking the manuscript.
à ROLAND F RANCIS : For his review of this music project.
à F R A NTONIO DA C OSTA : For his review of this music
project.
à L AURA S ANTANA : For her review of this music project.
à K EVIN M ENDES : For his review of this music project.
à F REDERICK N ORONHA : For his valuable advice and for
offering his Goa, 1556 publishing house to publish
this music project into a book.
à B INA N AYAK : For her beautiful cover design of the
book.
1. The Gracias Collection: The Diary, LPs, music sheets,
other memorabilia
2. Newspaper cuttings:
A Vida (4 September 1952; 30 August 1953; 13 December
1953; 15 December 1953; 18 December 1953; 20 Decem-
ber 1953; 31 December 1953; 27 February 1954; February-
March 1958; 11 May 1958; 29 October 1958)
Diario de Goa (May 1954; 23 December 1953; 29 December
1953; May-June 1954; 21 May 1958)
O Heraldo (14 February 1954)
Eve’s Weekly (4 March 1954)
Diario de Noite (December 1956; 8 December 1958)
3. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Willis-Conover
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Conover
5. https://downbeat.com/site/about
6. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc149564/m2/1/high_
res_d/dissertation.pdf
7. http://www.uppercrustindia.com/oldsite/10crust/ten/mumbai6.htm
8. https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/news-media/mumbaimirrored-all-
that-jazz/articleshow/71193001.cms
9. http://bardroybarretto.blogspot.com/
10. https://goanet-news.goanet.narkive.com/VKd1CO0O/goanet-reader-
goan-music-a-long-twisted-and-often-colourful-road-across-time-
valmiki-faleiro-herald
11. https://kalaacademygoa.co.in/department-of-western-music/
12. https://artandculture.goa.gov.in/music-schools-before-and-after
-goas-liberation
13. https://www.facebook.com/421848407958650/posts/1449566998520114/
14. https://www.facebook.com/421848407958650/posts/1484773991666081/
T HERE were a number of reviews and comments after
this music project Symphony of Passion was published
in my blog on 25 February 2022. Some of these comments
have been published in this section.
Pioneering Work
Melvyn Misquita, whose project this is, is one of the nicest
individuals you could ever meet. In that, he takes after his
father the late Valentine (Valu) Misquita from the house near
the Tinto in Aldona. The family lived for many years in
Dukhan, the main oilfields area of Qatar peninsula.
Melvyn in my opinion has done tremendous field work
to create this project. This is not a research compilation sit-
ting in some musty library in Goa, or on a laptop at home
digging into some archives of long forgotten sources. This is
hands on and dealing with clueless people kind of research
where you get your hands greased and your brains all scat-
tered.
The result is a smooth weaving of all that hard work. He
writes about Goa’s critical human resource, its musicians.
The simple, mostly poor men as dedicated to their art as
the craftsmen in rural India who worked magic with their
hands.
What if the Taj Mahal had not been built by an Emperor
and lay all forgotten in a corner of the Rajasthan desert de-
spite being a marvellous edifice of the kind that awes all
kinds of people who come to see it.
 217

These Goan musicians may to even us Goans, not have

created a musical Taj Mahal but they did create music that
brings joy unfailingly to the soul and to the wide Diaspora a
tingling that strikes whenever Goan music chords are heard.
A wistfulness of home. Saudade.
They were almost silent, almost unknown men except to
those who knew them, heard them or heard of them. They
worked in a metaphorical dark room in a dark place that
Goa once was. Now with his work, Melvyn has turned a
beacon of light on who they were and what they did and
I hope his pioneering work of pushing them forward will
make them as well known in the Goan world as some musi-
cians whose names are already familiar to us.
When I asked Melvyn if we could hear the music of these
men, he wrote:

At this point in time, no. But, in the future, I do

hope to get some trained musicians to read the
music sheets of the original music played by the
band and try and get them to perform the music,
which can then be recorded and presented. For
now, I just wanted to bring out this story which
remained hidden for seven decades.

Work well done, Melvyn.

Roland Francis, Writer

Toronto-Canada

Masterpiece of Research
Congratulations Melvyn. Your Symphony of Passion is a mas-
terpiece of research on a subject very dear to my heart. Bra-
vo and thanks for bringing to light the details of this hidden
218

jewel of our Goan contributions in the field of western mu-

sic.
Ronaldo Coutinho and his brother Viviano were mem-
bers of my Choir at the Holy Spirit Church in Margão (1970-
1973), and they also participated in several recordings of
Mandos, Dulpods, Deknnis as well as sacred music at the all
India Radio Goa for future broadcasts. Great friends as they
were, Ronaldo never shared with me his past musical back-
ground. What a humble man he was! My last encounter
with him was at our book release event, a book of Dulpods
Undra Muja Mama in Margão in 2011. R.I.P.
All the best to you in your future endeavours in the mu-
sic field in Goa.

Fr Antonio da Costa
Goan music researcher, writer, publisher
Arizona-USA

Superb, Meticulous Work

Superb work and so meticulous. Kudos, Melvyn, such pas-
sionate work needs to get all the accolades. I can’t even
fathom the kind of hours put into your research, hours of
meticulous discourses and curative effort. Wow, simply wow,
and I doff my hat! Very few would have the gumption to
take up this mammoth task and you did it with aplomb!
Loved reading it. Though I am not done finishing it. I read
slow to savour every bit of the history. Once again kudos!
Also, may I add the families of all musicians will forever
be indebted and thankful for your work in keeping them
alive and introducing many to the future generations. These
gems are the foundation of music that we and the future
 219

can learn and build from. They were there that’s why we
are and the future will be!!

Laura Santana
Jazz singer, Goa

Testimony to Goan Musicians

Starting with a diary (1953) and a trunk full of scores left
behind by José Gracias, Melvyn passionately connects the
dots to help us re-imagine a decade where eclectic Goan
musicians thrived and collaborated. Starting as a quartet,
the founders of Joe Blues augmented, and at times grace-
fully stepped aside to accommodate fellow Goan musicians
during their visits back home. The count of 37 iconic musi-
cians noted in the diary is a testimony to their brotherhood.

Bardroy Barretto
Director of the acclaimed Konkani film Nachom-ia
Kumpasar

Fascinating and Unique

This story is truly fascinating and unique and I wonder if
anyone else has ever attempted such a detailed narrative
about any group of Goan musicians. Only you, Melvyn!

Fr Joaquim Loiola Pereira

Singer, classical guitarist
Secretary to the Archbishop of Goa and Daman

Veritable Music Treasure

This musical project Symphony of Passion by Melvyn Mis-
quita, a reputed journalist and talented musician, surely en-
tailed a monumental research involving interactions with
220

relatives of several musicians of Salcete from a bygone era

and needs to be commended.
Musicians and music in Goa have undergone a profound
transformation since the time of these musicians in Melvyn’s
project. Let me elaborate on this transformation for the
benefit of readers.
When my family relocated from Kampala-Uganda (East
Africa) to Aldona-Goa in 1972, one of my early memories
was listening to the 2 p.m. programme ‘Cantaram’ on All
India Radio (AIR) Panjim featuring Konkani songs.
I vividly recall listening to and was very inspired by the
awesome song ‘Tuzo Mog’ with amazing musical arrange-
ments and instrumentations composed by the musical leg-
end Chris Perry, who was far ahead of his time. I was also
very impressed by the song ‘Yo Moga Tu Mozo’ by Frank Fer-
nand, another musical genius, in the movie Amchem Noxib,
which also had beautiful changes in pitch!
Although I was not even a teen then and knew nothing
about music, I guess that having listened to loads of my
dad’s music repertoire of timeless classics in my earlier years,
my ears were tuned enough, to appreciate these Konkani
music gems.
I had attended a wedding reception in 1972 and listened
to a local brass band perform at the event. I vividly recall
that the band played instrumental music for the first verse
and chorus of all songs, before the vocals came in for the
rest of the song, by using the megaphone!
All the brass instruments and drums were unamplified
at the time, and it was only later that I listened to bands
performing music, using electronic instruments, individual
stage amps and speakers for each musical instrument, be-
 221

sides two columns of speakers on either side of the stage for

the vocals. The drums were still performed unamplified.
This trend had probably already started in Goa in the late
1960s. Later in 1981, I listened to the band ‘The Symphony’
led by the talented singer/guitar player August Braganza,
who was widely acknowledged at the time as Goa’s ‘Sound
King’ for his superb sound engineering capabilities. All in-
struments and microphones were connected to a sound mix-
ing console, which was, in turn, connected to a powerful PA
sound system. Drums were miked and amplified as well. Af-
ter mixing the various musical instrument/vocal channels,
the overall volume of the band could be raised to unprece-
dented levels, depending on the open-air venue requiremen-
ts.
I became a musician and performed the keyboards in
my late teens, and have been performing in various bands
since 1979. I have had first-hand experience of transforma-
tions in sound systems and amplification for bands, as well
as the music itself, for over four decades.
I have been reminiscing about how the awesome musi-
cians, these wind and string instrument players, performed
at various functions with practically no sound system assis-
tance in the early years, but still enthralled their various au-
diences to their hearts content.
The musicians of that era, as well as those in the 1970s,
were definitely very versatile and performed amazing mu-
sic with superb arrangements, complex chords and melo-
dies, unlike the relatively more mundane and predictable
music of our generation, and still later, the contemporary
music of our children’s generation, which would be descri-
bed by many as meaningless noise!
222

There has been so much advancement of technology, to

the point of easy availability and indiscriminate use of down-
loaded audio files, for use of musical accompaniments, in
lieu of live musicians, with singers now singing with back-
up music tracks, and several musicians even mimicking the-
ir musical instruments in various solo/duo/trio setups, and
some bands as well.
Our Goan musicians of the 1950s till the 1970s, who re-
galed audiences with their soul-stirring, heart-warming and
foot-tapping high-quality music, definitely need to be ap-
preciated and applauded for their dedication and soul stir-
ring musical renditions of songs. Despite various challenges
like long and arduous practice sessions, limited transport
facilities and meagre income from shows, these musicians
played their hearts out for hours on end, without amplifica-
tion and technology, bringing so much happiness to their
audiences, be it at wedding receptions, dances, shows, ch-
urch feasts and Tiatrs.
The lives and music of these Goan musicians must be
documented and remembered for posterity and Melvyn’s
very thoughtful project is a splendid step in this direction.
It is an awesome project and veritable treasure, a splendid
tribute to our veteran and unforgettable Goan musicians of
yesteryears. Valor (Kudos) to Melvyn for this amazing mu-
sical initiative!

Kevin Mendes
Songwriter, lyricist and keyboard/accordion player
Miramar, Panjim-Goa
 223

Tribute to Music Lovers

The ‘Joe Blues’ band was set up in 1953 in memory of

the late Joe Perry, a music genius from Margao, and
later changed its name to ‘Music Lovers’ in 1954, with
the same passion and purpose.

Relatives and friends have now decided to join hands

to support a special initiative in memory of the
musicians from ‘Music Lovers’, which will promote
music in some shape or form. All profits from the sale
of this book and support/donations in cash or kind
from relatives, friends and well-wishers will be
dedicated towards this initiative.

We would appreciate your support, in any manner

possible, towards this initiative. Kindly contact the
author for more details regarding this initiative.

Thank you.