Rudy rides again, 1963

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 04:18:04 +0000

This photo, featuring Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn shaking hands with the great tenor saxophone player Rudy Cotton in Delhi in 1963, was sent to me by Percy Khatow, the Indian musician’s son. As regular readers of this site know, Rudy Cotton was born Cawas Khatau and descended from a long line of producers of Parsi drama. I had the pleasure of speaking to Percy Khatow briefly when I visited the UK in 2012. Though he has a condition that makes it difficult for him to conduct long conversations, Percy called to ask if I’d received the photos and brochures he’d taken the trouble to email me.Sadly, Percy’s sister, Zenia, had passed away just three weeks before I spoke to him.  Despite the recent loss, Zenia’s husband, Tony Parr, was generous with his time and sent me a long message about the family. Rudy Cotton married Nargiz Nanabhai Balaporia in 1938. “They had two children, my late wife Zena and Percy,” Tony wrote. Zena was born in Rangoon in 1939, and Percy was born in Bombay in 1946.