Saturday, April 2, 2016, 8:30 pm, $6
TURNER/CHRISTENSEN’s KORLA + KATELUS
With his sparkling jeweled turban, organist Korla Pandit (1921-1998) was an alluring enigma, television pioneer, and the godfather of exotica music. Though he never spoke a word on any of the 900 episodes of his 1950s TV program, Korla nevertheless captured the hearts of countless housewives with his soulful, hypnotic gaze and theatrical performances, showcasing both popular tunes and East Indian compositions on the new Hammond B3 organ. In the ‘90s he re-surfaced as a cult figure among tiki/lounge aficionados, immortalized in the 1994 film Ed Wood. Korla lived up to his reputation as a “man of mystery” by taking an amazing secret with him to his grave—which tonight’s film finally reveals! Admirers Carlos Santana, Booker T. Jones, and many more appear in this long-overdue bio by John Turner and Eric Christensen, both present for Q&A. And here for a fitting homage to Mr. Pandit is the Mission’s own master of the Hammond, Doug Katelus, turban-clad and with a new album of his own!