NRI musician document sounds that describe Bengal

Tracing his Bengali roots, a London-based musician has come up with a unique musical travelogue which records sounds that describe West Bengal and the neighbouring Bangladesh.

Young British composer and Sarod maestro Soumik Datta's project 'Sounds of Bengal' is a series of multimedia concerts where a documentary is aesthetically punctuated with live music to depict his melodic journey.

Along with city-based Tabla player Arif Khan, he travelled to places like Murshidabad, Santiniketan, Falta, Digha, several suburbs of Dhaka and Kolkata to document and present all kinds of sounds that dominate the place and the thoughts of the local people.

"It is neither a tourist guide nor an anthropological study of Bengal. We shot the scenes that came naturally on the journey - shots from a moving car, from a moving train, landscapes, interviews of people we met on the road etc," 27-year-old Datta told PTI here.

Having once collaborated with top American pop singer Beyonce, the Kolkata-born artist who was brought up in London now performs regularly in the UK and has also given music for two films, including Sharmila Tagore's 'Life Goes On'.

Breeding a new idiom of music in contemporary style, the 'Sounds of Bengal' is a composite medley of Baul ballads, folksy tunes, rustic songs, general noises rending the surrounding air, sounds of nature, the tinkle of rickshaw bells, etc.

Besides shows in Kolkata and Delhi, he will also present the one-of-its-kind audio-visual travelogue at the prestigious South Bank's Alchemy Festival at London this April.

Also released as an album, the musical journey has instrumental passages weaved with video footages on various facets of Bengal. Besides, it has recordings of short interviews with people from all walks of life. Film director Sandip Ray, rickshaw pullers, watchmen, farmers, boatmen, etc ??" all talk about their sonic experiences in Bengal.

"I was intrigued by the way the Bengali language changed with varying dialects and alternative vocabulary. The sound of the words themselves became the key to this discussion," said Datta, known for merging Indian improvisations with eclectic arrangements.

The music combines Guitar, Piano, Sarod, Tabla and electronica with field recordings of the sounds of dhobi ghats, textile factories, the 'azan', Baul singers and the polyrhythms of the Bengali language.

Through its rich and vibrant soundtrack, the musical highway reveals the distinct palettes of sound in rural and urban Bengal.

In the city the music is bent, moulded and shaped by the rhythms and pulses of the urban experience while in the countryside there is a lot more space for contemplative and melodic music.

"The main difference is silence. In the rural areas you can hear one sound in isolation - its attack, the timbre, its decay followed by silence. In the towns and villages, sounds sit on top of each other. Sometimes you don't know when one stops and when the other begins," Datta said.

When asked as to what sounds dominate the place, he said," Bengal resonates with the sounds of the rhythmic tram, the aggressive 'michil' or procession chants, 'pheri wallahs' (vendors) selling their products, the beating of clothes on the 'dhobi ghat' and distant boatmen songs."

Born to filmmaker Sangeeta Datta and an investment banker, the 'Sounds of Bengal' gave him a reason to trace his own roots within the state.

"Doing this project has given me the opportunity to return to Bengal for an extended period and soak myself in everyday life here. Interacting with the wider Bengali community here has helped me better understand my parents' roots and a lot of what dominates their aesthetics, fears, joys, beliefs," the artist said.