Louis Banks

Louis Banks

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Category: Music

Louis Banks Profile

  • Name:
  • Louis Banks
  • Other Name:
  • Dambar Bahadur Budaprithi
  • Born:
  • February 11, 1941
  • Father:
  • George Banks
  • Mother:
  • Sarswati
  • Spouse:
  • Lorraine

Louis Banks Biography

Louis Banks is a music composer and record producer who is often referred to as the Godfather of Indian Jazz. As a music arranger, his best known work in Mile Sur Mera Tumhara - "The unofficial Indian anthem", aired on Doordarshan since 1980s. He also co-composed the song aside Marathi composer Ashok Patki. The lyrics were written by Piyush Pandey. Specialized in Indi Pop he is verse in contemporary jazz and Indo jazz fusion songs. He was a member of R. D. Burman’s troupe in the 1970s, when Burman was at his career peak.

 

He was born in Darjeeling to Gurkha parents in the year 1941. His family has strong musical background. His father George Banks was a musician. His grandfather, Bakhat Bahadur Budapirti composed the former Nepalese national anthem Shreeman Gambhira Nepali. His birth name was Dambar Bahadur Budaprithi. His father rechristened him as Louis Banks to offer a tribute to Louis Armstrong, an African-American musician and singer. Since young Louis was attracted to western music and since the age of 13, he started playing guitar and trumpet. He took piano lessons from his father and continued learning while doing graduation at St. Joseph's College in Darjeeling.

 

His father owned a musical band and so after completing education he moved to Kathmandu with his father’s band. It was during his stay in Kathmandu he got attracted to jazz. Though he received an offer to work in Hindi film music industry under R. D. Burman, he rejected. He later formed the band The Louis Banks Brotherhood, aside singer Pam Craine and saxophonist Braz Gonsalves. They worked in night clubs and later got offers from jingles. In 1974 he approached R. D. Burman and joined his troupe. He also formed a group called Sangam teaming up with Carnatic classical vocalist, Ramamani. They have performed worldwide. In 1988 with the composition of iconic Mile Sur Mera Tumhara he shot to national fame. Currently he lives in Juhi, where he is still associated with music.

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Updated: April 09, 2016

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