[BITList] Pam Crain RIP

[John Feltham]

KOLKATA: Pam Crain, the Park Street jazz icon whose stunning voice matched her strikingbeauty, passed away in Kolkata on Wednesday. Her husband Don Saigal said Pam, in her eighties, was suffering from asthma and suffered a cardiac arrest.

For three decades, since her first performance in the early '60s when Kolkata was still India's entertainment hotspot, Pam's melodies lent the background score to the city's nightlife and earned her the adage of 'Queen of Park Street'. Loved by contemporaries and idolized by budding musicians, Pam was also the ultimate style icon in the years when the city was still defined by its patrician tastes.

"This was not expected at all. She was to return home from hospital tonight," a grieving Saigal said. Like any other Park Street regular and music-lover, bebop maestro Carlton Kitto was heartbroken. "She was the best among all jazz singers. Innumerable times did we share the stage, she was outstanding. When we would jam, we didn't need to talk or rehearse, she would know where I am headed to, and I would follow wherever she is leading."

Park Street veteran Nondon Bagchi was shocked. "Pam Crain was a 100% self-made musician. Genuinely gifted, she started singing professionally at a very young age. She evolved in many directions and had amazing mastery over the jazz idiom, bringing to our lives a distinctive style," he said.

Young singer Chanelle Grosser, who was close to Pam and idolized her, said, "As a singer, she was unmatched. But she also had a great sense of style. She even managed a boutique in her younger days, called Madam Butterfly. It's a huge loss for Kolkata."

Park Street diva Usha Uthup said she's still in awe of Pam Crain. "I came to the city in 1969, but didn't know her then. Soon, I heard about this amazing personality with a svelte figure,stunning to look at and an amazing singer. My interest was piqued. One day, after my show at Trincas, I walked down to Blue Fox to see her. My first vision: Pam Crain walking down the stairs, looking, what to tell you, devastating. Since then, I never missed a chance to interact with her."

Uthup says the two of them were the two extremes of Park Street. "Imagine me, looking like myself, flowers in hair and all, and Pam Crain in a black dress, even I couldn't take my eyes off her. People ask me if I was inspired to sing because of Pam Crain. I say I was always a singer, but she did inspire me in many ways. I every interview I've spoken about Pam. She had called me a perfect entertainer, perfect performer. I cherish her compliment."

Several of her friends, including Kitto and Uthup, met Crain a few months ago at an Anglo Indian meet. Uthup recounts: "I was so excited to share the stage with her. I escorted her to her seat. I hugged her and said you still look gorgeous. No matter what, she was always well turned out, impeccably dressed. Last time I saw her, she looked a little frail. I prayed that please don't let this be the last time I see her."

Stunning and unforgettable, that's how friends and fans remember her. "She was perfect, poised and a style icon - that's the way I'd like to remember her," Uthup says.

It's the end of yet another Park Street chapter.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Usha-Uthup

and…

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Pam-Crain

and…

http://www.asianwindow.com/tag/pam-crain/

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