NRI Bengalis to focus on Tagore songs in pre-puja albums

The pre-puja season is a time which sees a number of music albums hit the stands every year. This year saw a number of non-resident Bengalis launch their albums, like Soumya Dasgupta's Bengali album 'Khusi Noi Awlpey.' Soumya is the son of legendary Bengali composer, Sudhin Das Gupta.

'Khusi Noi Awlpey' features eight Bengali non-film songs rendered by Raghab Chattopadhyay, Nirmalya Roy, Swagato Dey while lyrics have been penned by Rajib Chakraborty and Soumya Dasgupta. Songs like 'Khusi Noi Awlpey' (Raghab Chattopadhyay), Beparoya Hawa (Nirmalya Roy), Jekhane Jemon (Swagato Dey), Roshnai (Raghab Chattopadhyay) are worth a mention. All the songs have been composed by Soumya Dasgupta. The album was released at Kolkata Press Club on UD Series. Paroma, Upal, Raghab Chattopadhyay, Soumya Dasgupta, Nirmalya Roy, Rajib Chakraborty were present at the launch ceremony.

Soumya started studying music through the instrument of his choice, the guitar, first with his uncle, Parimal Das Gupta and later on with legendary Indian jazz guitarist, Carlton Kitto. The early years were spent in the company of legendary Indian singers including Manna Dey, Arati Mukherjee, Banasree Sen Gupta and instrumental maestros who were regulars in the recording industry.

His first recording stint was with his father, in 1979, at the Technicians' Studio, Kolkata. His first band was a folk rock band, called "Further Away" after he left India in 1990 to work in Oman. There he started a rock band called "Feedback" in 1991which featured Mangalorean and Sri Lankan musicians. He gave up active gigging, concentrating on larger shows in Oman and composing music in his home studio. Between 2003 and 2012, Soumya composed and produced music for a number of plays for the Indian and Bangladeshi diaspora in Oman.

In 2013, he produced a fusion album with his long time musician friend, tabla player Subrata Bhattacharya. They formed a fusion band, called Crossover, which featured a lot of well known Indian artists. In 2015, Soumya composed, arranged and produced a western instrumental album called "Roots". In 2016, he produced a Bengali language album, called "Khushi Noi Awlpey" featuring singers Raghab Chatterjee, Nirmalya Roy and Swagato Dey, with sound design by Sayan Ganguly. Soumya has teamed up with prominent Greek – Omani singer, Thanae and started producing songs with an album planned in the near future.

The album RANG by Anindya-Shelley was released by eminent Rabindra Sangeet artist Prabuddha Raha at on INRECO, recently. Anindya-Shelley has chosen six of Rabindranath Tagore's songs which interpret the relationship of love with that of nature, and its varying inspirations in different seasons.

It was a cherished dream of the duo to reach out to other-than-Bengali-speaking audiences, with the gems of Tagore's creations. Shouvik Mazumdar, a composer of contemporary times has translated Gurudev's songs, with a touch of his simple yet chaste Hindi. Professor Debal Dasgupta from the MS University of Baroda, Gujarat, has enriched the verses with a touch of finesse.

Music has been arranged by Rana Sarkar. Songs like 'Aaj Sawan ghanaghata chaiye re' (Aji jhoro jhoro mukhoro badoro diney), 'Sakhi pyar mein na janu' (Sokhi bhabona kahare boley), 'O mere chand suhana' (O amar chander alo), 'Kab se main ye socha tha' (Kotobaro bhebechhinu), 'Udashini jaisey kesuyo ki lat se' (Udashini beshe bideshini ke se), 'Pagli hawako aaj de diyahaiman' (Phagun haway haway) are worth a mention.

Anindya and Shelley's musical journey gained momentum way back in 2011 at Baroda, Gujarat. Anindya has been widely acclaimed for his albums, one of Rabindrasangeet and two others of Hemanta Mukhopadhyay. Shelley's debut album of Rabindrasangeet has also been appreciated by listeners from all quarters.

Moreover, Ratnendra, an artiste from Mumbai with a Bong connection released his debut non-film Bengali album 'Jani Tumi Asbe' on INRECO featuring five songs penned by Rajib Chakraborty, music composed by Arbind Dogra recently in city. Ratnendra is a trained singer and one of very promising disciples of legendary artist, Suresh Wadekar.

Music is his passion though he does a job in Mumbai. Songs are modern with a high range of variety. The album was released by Surojit Chatterjee, eminent singer, Ashok Bhadra, music composer, Debasish Kumar (MIC) at the Press Club, Kolkata.