ওয়াশিংটন বাংলা রেডিও Washington Bangla Radio USA

Kolkata, Mar 25 (IBNS): The flavours of Rabindrasangeet underwent a new transformation on Thursday night as new-age percussion star Bickram Ghosh presented three compositions of Rabindranath Tagore in a completely new sound scape.

The concert was  part of the launch of Ghosh’s new album ‘Tagore Lounge’ where he has added new soundscape to the popular compositions of Tagore.

M.K. Narayanan, Governor of West Bengal, launched the album at Kolkata’s iconic Town Hall.

"I felt like doing something on Rabindranath Tagore for a long period of time and here it is,” Ghosh said.

“I have uniquely worked for this album and I feel that there is a unique freshness in the approach by the singers who have very well incorporated the wealth and grandeur of tradition into this project,” the composer said.

Ghosh mentioned that although he has experimented with the sound scaping, he has carefully maintained the aesthetics of Tagore’s compositions.

"I carefully maintained the aesthetics of Gurudev’s composition. The soundscaping and the new approach to the songs have been done by keeping all these factors in mind,” he said.

Ghosh has blended Indian acoustic instruments like tabla, sitar and sarod along with Western instruments like drums and bongos in this album that took nearly one and half years for preparation.

Apart from the concert on Thursday evening, the audience also witnessed a unique fashion show where the Tollywood (Bengali film industry) celebrities walked the ramp by wearing the designs of noted fashion designer-duo Monapali.

“We took the inspiration from Rabindrananth Tagore’s paintings and poems,” Pali Sachdev said.

“The celebrity models  wear chadars, sarees and kurtas (Indian dresses) on Thursday night,” she said.

Singer Usha Uthup, actor Jaya Seal (wife of Bickram), Arindam Seal and Jessica Gomes walked the ramp by donning the collections of Monapali.     

 (Reporting by Supriyo Hazra/ Photos by  Avishek Mitra)