Pam, you’re a sweetheart

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Sandeep Chowta

She was the queen of jazz ballads in India. And undoubtedly the biggest jazz singer the country has ever produced. Cyberspace was on Wednesday filled with tributes from people who have been mesmerised by her crooning, people she has influenced, and even people who barely knew her. In India, it hasn’t gotten bigger than Pam Crain, a voice that Mumbai and Kolkata fight to call their own.

“Pam was unique. She was one of the very few people who could sing the same song everyday but radically different every single time. What is truly inspiring for a fellow musician is how she would inspire and look for inspiration too,” says legendary bassist Karl Paters. Peters has performed with Pam for over a decade.
Louiz Banks, considered a very influential person in the Indian jazz scene, has also collaborated with her over the years. “She has been the undisputed diva since the 60s entertaining and mesmerising her audiences with her amazing interpretations of songs. She had the lethal combination of stunning beauty, brains and talent,” said Banks, in the wake of her demise.
At age 13 when Pam was in the boarding of Dow Hill in Kurseong, Pam was introduced to the piano and there was no looking back since. Music even found her love, when she decided to marry fellow musician Don Saigal. “Music was her way of life. There were many fantastic singers around but Pam set the bar. She showed what it was like to live like a musician,” Peters says.
Bollywood composer and a promoter of jazz music, Sandeep Chowta feels that given how rich her voice was Pam should’ve been singing longer than she had. “She had a very traditional style of jazz singing. She belonged to the Ella Fitzgerald school of vocals. I’ve heard her just once back in early 2000 when she performed alongside world renowned clarinetist Eddie Daniels. And I couldn’t help wondering why there weren’t more performances of hers.”