Franco Vaz: RD Burman’s ace drummer learnt the beats from Jazz

MUMBAI: It was a classic case of destiny taking its own course with great effect. Young Franco Vaz had begun his career as a violinist, playing with ace music directors like Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji, Salil Chowdhury, Vasant Desai and Shankar-Jaikishan. But his heart stirred to the beat of drums although he dabbled with the instrument on a few stage-shows for C Ramchandra in the mid-1970s.

It was there that R D Burman spotted Vaz, and invited him to join his group of musicians. One thing led to another, and after recording the title song of the 1978 film ‘Kasme Vaade’, Burman told senior team member Kersi Lord to sign him on for six months. The maestro’s team already had ace drummers like Burjor aka Buji Lord, Leslie Godinho and Trilok Gurtu, and this development was a huge honour for Vaz. They worked together till 1992.

Vaz passed away on February 7 in Mumbai at the age of 67. The news was received with shock. Besides his achievements as a drummer, friends fondly remembered his acting foray, playing a club owner in Sriram Raghavan’s 2018 film ‘Andhadhun’, and creating tunes like O Maria, for Burman in ‘Saagar’ (1985) and Papa Kehte Hain for Anand-Milind in ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ (1988).

Ace keyboardist and jazz supremo Louiz Banks, who was also part of the Pancham (R D Burman) team in the late 1970s, said, “Franco was one of the first musicians who welcomed me very warmly when I first arrived at R D Burman’s studio for my first recording,” he said. That was during the recording of the song Suhani Chandni Raatein, sung by Mukesh in the 1977 film ‘Mukti’.

The full-time shift to drums was rooted in his heritage. Vaz’s father Francis Vaz was a prominent drummer in the film music world, having played with music directors Shankar-Jaikishen, O P Nayyar, C Ramchandra and Madan Mohan. The young lad got into music from a very early age, and besides taking violin lessons from Michael Martins, he “fooled around”, in his own words, with the piano.

Simultaneously, Vaz observed his father’s playing, and even followed great jazz drummers like Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones and Billy Cobham. He also took lessons from Leslie Godinho. He got his first opportunity as a drummer when music arranger Enoch Daniels invited him for a stage show, before C Ramchandra took him on.

The stint with Burman produced such gems like ‘Shalimar’ (1978), ‘Rocky’ (1981) and ‘Saagar’. Years later, in 1997, his work in ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ with music director Uttam Singh garnered applause. He also worked with southern genius Ilaiyaraaja, composer Vanraj Bhatia in jingles, Coomi Wadia of the Paranjoti Choir and younger music directors Amit Trivedi and Shantanu Moitra.

Vaz’s busy recording commitments prevented him from pursuing his other passion of singing. In 1997, he recorded songs for an album tentatively titled ‘Poochhe Koee Mere Di Se’ as a singer. However, he could not pursue it beyond a point. Three years ago, he released two songs (Taron Ki Chaon Se and the album’s title track) on YouTube.

Vaz always believed in encouraging fresh talent. In an interview, he had said, “Drummers of our generation were mostly self-taught. We would listen to seniors and absorb their style and technique. Today there are various other ways like organised drumming classes, YouTube videos and online lessons.” He also felt that though there are many drummers who can’t read music, it is always an asset if one learns the art.

In 2014, Vaz founded the Trakadoom Institute of Drums and Percussion in Mumbai to train youngsters both in western and Bollywood styles of drumming. To carry forward the legacy, his son Joshua Vaz is one of the rising talents on the Indian drum circuit.

An enduring image of Vaz is of him playing a snare drum duet with Gino Banks at the Mumbai Drum Day concert at the St Andrew’s Auditorium, Bandra, in 2019. Interestingly, this year’s Drum Day is being held on Saturday (February 10) at the Shanmukhananda Hall, Sion. It goes without saying that many performers and attendees will nostalgically remember the magic of Franco Vaz.