Concanim Hits Chris Perry | TRC Collectible

Christovam Pereira, famously known as Chris Perry was an Indian musician, composer, songwriter, and film producer who combined jazz with Konkani music. He was known in India as the 'King of Cha Cha Cha' and the 'Man with the Golden Trumpet' and was the composer of the iconic signature song of All India Radio.

The second of Agostinho and Espiciosa Pereira's eight children, Chris Perry was born in Borda in 1928. Up until 1961, the majority of Goans received their education in Portuguese because at the time Goa was a Portuguese colony.

Goa was the most westernised region of India because of the Portuguese colonisation and the influx of British and other westerners in the 19th century. The majority of India's jazz musicians are from Goa, which is where western music first gained popularity.

Perry was raised in a musical family and began performing in Tiatr (musical theatre) at a young age as "Bab Pinto." Later, he developed into a talented musician, especially on the trumpet and saxophone. He was renowned for his perfect pitch and for being able to switch from the trumpet to the saxophone in the middle of a song. Additionally, he was a prolific songwriter who contributed to many of the era's top hits. Perry incorporated jazz into the conventional Goan musical style.

The LP Concanim Hits was first released in the year 1971 when Perry was an well established musician. Released under His Master's Voice, this record features many brilliant Konkani musicians of the era including Lorna, H. Britton, Theresa, Antonette and more.

However, By the mid-1970s, Bombay's jazz scene was dying. The government had raised the entertainment tax to 40%, making the business unviable for smaller establishments. Many musicians left the country or switched to film work. Perry went into film. He worked as an assistant to film composer Mohammed Zahur Khayyam, conducted Khayyam's orchestra for the film Trishul and Kabhi Kabhi. He also worked for the composers Laxmikant–Pyarelal, R. D. Burman and Kalyanji–Anandji.

Perry died of Parkinson's disease in Margao, Goa in 2002 at the age of 73. In 2019, a road in Margao was re-named 'Chris Perry Street'.

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