Korla Pandit

Korla Pandit, né John Roland Redd (16 September 1921, St. Louis, Missouri — 2 October 1998, Petaluma, California) was an American pianist, organist and composer, one of the stalwarts of "Exotica" genre and pioneering TV music performer. After assuming a fictional French-Indian Koral Pandit persona in the late 1940s, Redd remained in character for the rest of his life, both on-stage and privately, keeping his true identity secret even from his children. In 2001, three years after Redd's death, the Los Angeles Magazine published a detailed Korla Pandit's "exposé." Redd was born in Missouri, one of seven children in the family of an African-American Baptist pastor; as his mother had mixed Anglo and African origins, John had lighter skin and straight hair. A child prodigy, Redd began playing piano at three, able to flawlessly reproduce any song after hearing it just once. In the early 1940s, John moved from the Midwest to California in pursuit of his musical career. Since black musicians faced widespread discrimination, Redd took advantage of his physique to pass as Mexican, adopting Juan Rolando alias. The trick paid off, and John managed to join the Musicians' Union (where African-Americans were barred). In 1944, Redd married Beryl June DeBeeson, a retired dancer and Disney artist; since she was white and interracial marriages were illegal in California back then, they had to travel to Tijuana, Mexico for the ceremonies. Together with Beryl, Redd invented a new Korla Pandit stage character, complete with makeup and exotic clothing. According to a fictitious backstory, Korla Pandit was born in New Delhi to a French opera singer and an Indian government clerk of Brahmin origins. Raised in an upper-class household and learning music in the UK, Korla supposedly immigrated to the United States at twelve, subsequently graduating from the University of Chicago. By 1948, Korla Pandit had been regularly performing around Hollywood, and composed music for a popular "occult adventure" radio series, Chandu the Magician, where he had created atmospheric sound effects on Novachord and Hammond CV electric organs. Korla soon met Klaus Landsberg, a TV broadcaster and producer who offered him a television show if the artist would agree to write music for Time for Beany, Bob Clampett's popular puppet show. In February 1949, "Korla Pandit's Adventures In Music" premiered on Los Angeles KTLA channel, becoming the first all-music program in the history of US television. At Landsberg's suggestion, Korla Pandit never spoke during broadcasts, adding to his exotic character's mystique. Pandit quickly rose to fame, releasing dozens of LP albums in subsequent years, primarily on Fantasy. He became acquainted with Hollywood celebrities, such as Bob Hope, Errol Flynn or Sabu Dastagir, and appeared in the George Stevens' 1952 film Something to Live For. John Redd remained fully dedicated to his Pandit's role, never dropping out of character even off-camera. The artist befriended Paramahansa Yogananda, a prominent Indian yogi guru and spiritual leader who wrote liner notes for one of Korla's records; he performed at Yogananda's funeral in LA. In 1956, Korla Pandit moved to San Francisco with a new program on KGO-TV. Sensing Beat generation's hunger for spirituality and alternatives to Western materialistic values, Pandit now began speaking on his shows, presenting a fusion of Zen, mysticism, and similar "New Age" concepts. In 1967, Korla Pandit relocated to Canada to protect his two sons from Vietnam War's military draft; they settled in Vancouver, BC. Pandit's television popularity faded away by the 70s, so he began to perform for hire at private events and ceremonies. In the 1990s, with a general resurgence of Exotica and the "Tiki-lounge" subculture, Korla Pandit briefly revived his career. He recorded as a special guest on the debut '93 self-titled album by The Muffs and had a cameo in Tim Burton's cult biopic Ed Wood. One of Korla Pandit's last concerts was a sold-out show at the iconic Bimbo's 365 Club. In June 2001, three years after Korla's death, R.J. Smith wrote a detailed exposé for Los Angeles magazine, revealing Redd's identity and his life-long dedication to the "mysterious Indian" character. The author communicated with Redd’s wife, who declined to comment, and both of his sons (one of whom passed away in December 2000, before LA Mag's publication). They appeared to be legitimately unaware or denying their father’s biographical facts as "rumours;" they never met any of their relatives, with whom Redd remained in contact discreetly even in later years.