Indo-American Arts Council
launches

ISHEETA GANGULY’S New CD album "DAMARU"
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 6, 6:30-9 PM
Sundaram Tagore Gallery, 547 West 27th Street, New York City.

“Damaru” is a cross-over album that weaves together Indian folk-pop, classical, lounge, elektronika, and Rabindrasangeet (the music of Rabindranath Tagore) in an unprecedented manner through fusion singer, Isheeta Ganguly. To be released with TIMES MUSIC in August 2010, “Damaru” features tracks arranged by renowned Bollywood composer Shantanu Moithra, Grammy award winning percussionist, Tanmoy Bose as well as U.S. based elektronika producer Phil Levy and features guest performances by percussionists Tanmoy Bose & Bickram Ghosh as well as Bollywood actor John Abraham. The songs of Damaru were inspired by Ganguly’s flux and journey between dual worlds during her years of growing up through that represent themes of patriotism, universalism and love.

Isheeta is a cross-over singer of the Indian diaspora who began singing her musical journey at the tender age of seven and released her first Rabindrasangeet album at the age of fifteen.  Raised in the U.S., Turkey, Japan and Indonesia, Isheeta’s music weaves together the many threads of her musical journey from her training in Tagore’s music (under the great maestro, Suchitra Mitra) to her versatile training and performance in jazz, pop and R&B styles throughout her years of growing up. She has released seven widely acclaimed Rabindrasangeet albums since her childhood (see www.isheetamusic.com) and more recently began incorporating sounds of jazz, gospel and R&B into a contemporary fusion sound which appeals to music listeners across the globe. She has performed and collaborated on a number of international multi-media projects including “Chiranthan” with Amitabh Bachchan,  “Riot” with Shabana Azmi and  Shashi Tharoor, “Still I Rise” with danseuse Mallika Sarabhai, and “Tribute to Tagore” with the late Ustad Vilayat Khan.

The songs on Damaru include: 1) Sanjhari de Bata (Shantanu Moithra) 2) Aona (Shantanu Moithra) 3) Bande Mataram (Phil Levy) 4) Walk Alone (Phil Levy) 5) Damaru – I Feel Your Rhythm (Tanmoy Bose) 6) Heartdance (Tanmoy Bose) 7) Riversong (Tanmoy Bose)

The Rolling Stone magazine writes, “Damaru, a seven song, multi-lingual (its got songs in English, Hindi & Bengali) Tagore fusion album is a tie-up of Ganguly’s musical worlds and cultural contexts – jazz, gospel, pop & R&B at one end and Rabindrasangeet, the 2000 plus body of songs left behind by Tagore, on another. The album has been created in active collaboration with percussionist Tanmoy Bose, Bollywood composer Shantanu Moithra and NY-based elektronika producer, Phil Levy.  The latter two especially have drafted in elements of lounge, hip-hop an elektronika into songs which are lyrically or musically based on Tagore’s compositions. ‘It expresses Rabindrasangeet in a new language which is essentially my language’, says Ganguly who has also written the English lyrics for all of the songs.”

Damaru will be released with Times Music in Mumbai at The Blue Frog on July 29th and In New York City with the Indo American American Arts Council in October, 2010

For questions and queries related to the New York launch, please contact Aroon Shivdasani at aroon@iaac.us.

About Isheeta:

"There is no history but of the soul." - Rabindranath Tagore

Isheeta Ganguly is a fusion singer of the Indian diaspora. Born in India and raised in the U.S., Turkey, Japan and Indonesia, Isheeta began singing at the age of five and went to Kolkata as a teenager to train in Rabindrasangeet under the great maetro Suchitra Mitra in Rabindrasangeet and in Indian classical music with virtuoso A.T. Kanan. Rabindrasangeet became the thread of continuity for Isheeta, while growing up amidst various cultural contexts around the world. Isheeta released her first album, titled "Tomari Nam Bolbo" (It's Your Name I Call) at the age of fifteen, which struck a chord with listeners, and also made her the youngest artist to release an album in Tagore's music. "Nutan Joubaneri Duth", (Call of the Young), is Isheeta's first release with SAREGAMA/HMV which has also been directed by her guru, Suchitra Mitra. The album includes a selection of popular, inspirational, Tagore songs which revolve around themes of rejuvenation, courage and reinvention.

Since her first acclaimed release as a teenager, described by The Times of India as "a most exciting find", Isheeta has performed Rabindrasangeet widely both in India and the U.S. where she was a regular feature at the annual North American Bengali Conferences as well as several international music festivals. Additionally, Isheeta recorded four more highly anticipated albums in Rabindrasangeet, two of which were collaborations with her guru Smt. Suchitra Mitra, in a series titled, "Aj Khala Bhangar Khala" (Celebration of Life).

Simultaneous to her journey with Rabindrasangeet, Isheeta was inspired in Western opera and jazz through her training with Nancy Wilson from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Subsequently, during her college years at Brown University, she performed with a pop a'cappella group called the "Chattertocks" which regaled audiences all over the U.S. with jazz and pop favorites.

Her proficiency in both Rabindrasangeet and Western styles of singing led to collaborations on a number of international projects including: a multi-media work called "Riot" with Shabana Azmi, Madhur Jaffrey and Shashi Tharoor in New York City, the inaugural performances of four Indo-American Arts Council Film Festivals with Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta and the late Ismael Merchant, a multi-media collaboration with danseuse Mallika Sarabhai and The Battery Dance Company titled, "Still I Rise" as well as a collaboration with Amitabh Bachchan in Tanushree Shankar's Tagore based production titled "Chiranthan".

Isheeta's upcoming fusion album with TIMES music will feature tracks with renowned composers Shantanu Moithra and Tanmoy Bose and include guest performances by Bikram Ghosh and Mashkoor Ali Khan.

The Indo-American Arts Council is a 501 ©3 not-for-profit arts organization passionately dedicated to promoting, showcasing and building an awareness of artists of Indian origin in the performing arts, visual arts, literary arts and folk arts. For information please visit