THRISSUR: Senior keyboards player and accordionist P. D. Francis died in Thrissur on Thursday, June 20. He was 65.
He was a close associate of composer G. Devarajan and a key member of his orchestra. He had played the keyboards for Devarajan’s songs such as ‘Arikil Neeyundayirunnenkil’.
He had also played the keyboards for recordings of Shyam, Mohan Sithara, Bollywood drummer-arranger Babla and many other composers, and for albums brought out by Tarangini Studio, where he worked for four years. Many
He had played the keyboards for stage programs (ganamelas) of M. S. Viswanathan, V. Dakshinamurthy, T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela, P. Jayachandran, Madhuri, S. Janaki and Krishnachandran.
He was the orchestra director of the Kalasadan Orchestra, Thrissur Elite Orchestra and Coimbatore Elite Orchestra. He was one of the first keyboards players of Thrissur. He was initiated into piano and accordion playing by Fr. Malcolm of the Calvary Church
He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
The funeral will be held later.
Contact details: P. D. Jacob (brother of P. D. Francis): 9400537274, 9961355931
Sony Francis: 9020465894

P.D. Francis can be seen playing accordian in this video: