George Edward Misquitta has been playing the trumpet since 1973, when he was still a teenager studying at the St Francis D’Assisi boarding school in Borivali. Misquitta gravitated towards the instrument because he had access to one at home. His father had been a trumpeter too, as part of a brass band called St Cecilia. Almost 48 years later, ‘Georgieboy’, as he is fondly called by people, leads the ‘St. Francis Brass Band’ and still exudes a tireless passion for the instrument. “I went to play for an Umbraacha Paani (an East Indian pre-wedding ritual) last night and returned home at 2:45 am,” he informs. While they charge for the official time of 7 pm – 10 pm, the band clearly love entertaining people. “Since people are dancing and enjoying themselves, we can’t stop. We go on playing.”

It is hard for Mumbaikars to imagine a wedding in the city without a brass band. Various communities have their own bands and they play for various occasions. Misquitta's is one of many popular bands from the East Indian community — considered one of the original inhabitants of the city — that get busy during this time of year. Usually dressed in brightly-coloured uniforms, they blow trumpets, clarinets and saxophones and beat the drums, dhol, tasha and Nashik dhol. Their Pied Piper-like skills attract people to follow them and break into a dance in public, without a care in the world. Even though these groups have anywhere between 15 and 25 musicians, they charge a meagre sum starting at Rs 12,000, and go upwards based on how far they have to travel. While disc jockeys have been taking over the market, the live music played by brass bands has a different kind of energy and still enjoys demand from certain communities that believe in big celebrations.

George Misquitta started his 'St Francis Band' in 2002 after he stopped touring due to some family problems. Photo: George Edward Misquitta

Even as he speaks to us, Misquitta is at the ready in case he receives a call to play. “I consider myself like a fire brigade. Suddenly if I get a funeral call, I have to make a move,” he says. The 64-year-old may love performing on the street these days but he has had his fair share of stage shows. He played with the Babla Kanchan orchestra and has been on a world tour while playing for Kalyanji-Anandji with Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan — all between 1979 and 2006. He also has fond memories of playing at Shivaji Park along with the Don Bosco brass band from Matunga, when Pope John Paul II visited the city in 1986. However, he had to give up playing on stage due to family problems and formed his own 16-member brass band in 2002; it is a tribute to his schooling days. As a full-time musician now, he depends on the wedding season between December to February for his bread and butter, and plays at funerals round the year.