John Mayer was an Indian composer known primarily for his fusions of jazz with Indian music in the British-based group Indo-Jazz Fusions with the Jamaican-born saxophonist Joe Harriott.
Background
Mayer was born in Calcutta, Bengal, British India, into an Anglo-Indian family and, after studying with Phillipe Sandre in Calcutta and Melhi Mehta in Bombay, he won a scholarship to London"s Royal Academy of Music in 1952, where he studied comparative music and religion in eastern and western cultures.
Education
Student, St. George's. Student, St. Joseph's. Studied Indian classical music with Sanathan Mukerjee.
Studied with Phillipe Sandre, Calcutta. Studied with Melhi Mehta, Bombay.
Career
He worked as a violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1953-1958) and then with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1958-1965), but was also composing fusions of Hindustani classical and Western classical forms from 1952 onwards. His Violin Sonata was performed by Yehudi Menuhin in 1955. In the 1960s he worked extensively with the Jamaican-born jazz musician Joe Harriott, with whom he formed the group Indo-Jazz Fusions, a ten-piece featuring a jazz quintet and five Indian musicians.
The new incarnation of the band, called John Mayer"s Indo Jazz Fusions, was revived in the 1990s by his students Richard Dray, Will Joss, and Simon Gray, then led by himself, and continued to play live gigs—featuring Mayer"s son Jonathan Mayer on sitar—until John Mayer"s death.
The Joe Harriott-John Mayer Double Quintet composed the distinctive theme tune, "Acka Raga", for the early episodes of the British Broadcasting Corporation quiz show Ask the Family, which was broadcast between 1967 and 1984. The theme featured Mayer on sitar.
From 1989 onwards, Mayer, who lived in north London, taught composition at Birmingham Conservatoire where he introduced the Bachelor of Music Indian music course in 1997.
Achievements
Membership
Fellow: Birmingham Conservatoire (honorary). Member: Royal Academy Music (associate).
Connections
Married Gillian Hepton, December 22, 1972. Children: Jahan, Jonathan.