Amancio D’Silva

Amancio d'Silva (1936-1996) was an Indian-born jazz guitarist and composer.

D'Silva was born on the 19th March 1936 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, to Goan parents. He took up the guitar in his teens, influenced by American jazz guitarists such as Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery, whom he heard on the radio, and he soon began performing with local jazz groups. By his early twenties he had formed his own group, including saxophonist Braz Gonzalvez and pianist Anacleto Naronha, and toured around India. He gained such a reputation as a musician that the then Maharani of Jaipur, an ardent jazz lover, became his benefactor and bought him his first quality guitar, a Gibson.

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