Songs - Folk Baul Bhatiyali

Kaya, one of the leading Bengali Bands of Kolkata is going to launch their latest album ‘Folkism’. On the eve of their release the Band members opened their heart out exclusively to WBRi correspondent Jyoti Prakash Mandal about the upcoming album, audience, position of Bengali music, reception of folk music in present time and other things. Excerpts :

Deenga performing live on stage

Washington DC, May 10, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Thir name, "Deenga", literally means a small boat in Bangla language. They are six guys sailing on an ocean of music. Meet the promising young Bengali folk-rock fusion band from Kolkata.

Deenga’s members are influenced by different genres of music which is reflected in their compositions. Deenga is very much influenced by Bengal's folk and rural songs, and they rearrange those songs to create their signature sound.

Their philosophy is to do simple music and spread peace and harmony. Deenga’s first album published by Asha Audio in   2005 was titled "Bhese Pori" (let's sail).

Formed in 2003 when six like minded professional musicians thought of getting together and doing something on their own, Deenga are a pretty well known band in today's Kolkata music circuit, which they attribute to their belief and confidence on themselves and hard work, though they, of course, feel there is still a long way to go. Their music is sometimes about the present political scenario, love and emotions of human heart, and the society we live in. "Nothing is compared to hard work and dedication. Music flows from your heart so don’t be too technical…it is feel that gives rise to good music" summarize Deenga about the path to musical success.

The sailors of Deenga

They like to imagine themselves to be sailors on a Deenga. Meet these sailors and listen to their songs via WBRi.

Washington DC, Sep 20, 2011 (Washington Bangla Radio) Bengali singer Ipsita Mukherjee chats with Esha Basu Roy about her new folk album "Folk Tantra - Folk at it's Grooving Best" featuring six Bengali folk, baul, bhatiyali and lalangeeti classics presented with a contemporary touch. Also listen to free audio samples online from the album.

Ipsita grew up in Sonarpur, a small town in South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, in a family environment where Indian classical music was given immense importance - her first music teacher was her uncle. A talented singer from early on, Ipsita took lessons in singing from various gurus, and was a finalist at the 2002 Sa Re Ga Ma Pa reality talent hunt television show. She lived in Mumbai for a while and returned to Kolkata after her wedding.

Folk Tantra is published by Purple Music of Kolkata - you can download albums from Purple in audiophile quality from our exclsuive digital MP3 download service.

Washington DC, Aug 14, 2011 (Washington Bangla Radio) Paromita Biswas, an accomplished singer herself who lives here, caught up and recorded this musical video interview with the well-known folk-songs researcher, singer of folk and Bengali Film songs, music director and composer Abhijit Basu (Bose) who was visiting DC at the time.

Listen to the musician as he chats about his background and experience and sings extempore.

Bengali Films (Click Here to Order DVD in USA & Canada »)
Kntatar, Directed by:- Bappaditya Bandhopadhyay
Kaal, Directed by:- Bappaditya Bandhopadhyay
Houseful, Directed by:- Bappaditya Bandhopadhyay
Eka Eka, Directed by:- Tapas Majumdar
Hello Kolkata Kemon Acho, Directed by:- Monoj Michigan
Kagojer Bou, Directed by:- Bappaditya Bandhopadhyay
Chhatrak , Directed by VIMUKTI JAY SUNDERE

Washington DC, Jan 19, 2011 (Washington Bangla Radio) Acclaimed Bengali singer Lopamudra Mitra from Kolkata has released her 2nd audio album titled MON FAKIRA (Soulmate) via ORION Entertainment. MONFAKIRA is available in high-quality MP3 Download format from WBRi Online Digital Download Store >

Lopamudra gave us a few minutes of her time for this informal chit-chat with Arijit Chakraborty. She talks about there being eight songs in the album, all but one of which are popular Bengali traditional folk songs. The remaining one is the famous song Ghate Lagaiya Dinga written by Mira Dev Burman and performed originally by the great Sachin Dev Burman. Do not miss Lopamudra's singing during the course of the conversation !

Lopamudra shares with us the reason for the title of the album - all artists have a fakir/baul persona embedded deep inside their hearts, though not necessarily deeply entrenched in fakir and baul philosophies and ways in life. Particularly for an artist like Lopamudra who has grown up and lives in a metropolitan urban environment, the Baul inside her is more of a feeling - which Lopamudra captures in the selection of the songs as well as their performance. The songs are about love, friendship and Baul philosophical values, and Lopamudra talks about how she could clearly feel closer to her roots while singing these songs now more than she ever did previosuly.

CALCUTTA, Nov 4, 2010 (Washington Bangla Radio) Ritobina Chakraborty is a cute girl from Salt Lake AKA Bidhannagar, Kolkata who is barely in her teens. We discovered her talent when we happened to watch her dancing on stage at a Salt Lake Block Durga Puja Pandal. The young danseuse caught our eyes immediately with her impressive performance dancing to the song Fagunero Mohonaye popularized by acclaimed Bengali Folk-Fusion Band BHOOMI. Watch her dance performance video on Washington Bangla Radio.

Germantown, Maryland, Oct 17, 2010 (Washington Bangla Radio) The popular and award-winning music band KAYA from Kolkata performed live at the annual Durga Puja festival organized by Sanskriti of Washington DC Metropolitan area to a full auditorium at Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland on October 16, 2010.

Kaya is the winner of BIG Bangla Rock/Pop song of the year at IDEA BIG BANGLA MUSIC AWARDS held at Science City auditorium, Kolkata on Aug 13th, 2010. KAYA also composed and performed the music in Bappaditya Bandopadhyay's National Award winning film HOUSEFULL (2009) in which playback singer NILANJANA SARKAR received the best playback singer (female) award.

Sanskriti is one of oldest and highly respected Bengali cultural organizations in the United States, acclaimed for it's organizing abilities including hosting the best North American Bengali Conference (NABC) ever in 2004 - a feat that is expected widely to be surpassed by Sanskriti's organization of NABC 2011 once again.

After Kaya's fabulous live show, Sanskriti's president Tapan Bera hosted an exclusive Washington Bangla Radio interview with the talented members of the band that is posted separately on this web-site.

Watch Washington Bangla Radio exclusive live coverage video of KAYA performing live in Washington DC, USA and relive the evening if you were there.

^{Dr Sudipta Chattopadhyay performing in her home city of Cleveland, Ohio}

Dr. Sudipta Chattopadhyay, a current resident of Cleveland, Ohio, is a doctorate in Chemical Engineering and a scientist by profession, on top of all these she is a passionate aficionado of Indian Music. Sudipta is a professional, versatile singer, actress, reciter, creative writer, anchor, and music teacher. Her passion for music has taken her all over the world as an invited singer-performer-anchor.

Washington Bangla Radio presents an exclusive feature on Sudipta. Watch Sudipta performing live via WBRi On-Demand Video service.