NEW YORK: Fusion singer Isheeta Ganguly’s new album – Damaru-I Feel Your Rhythm – a crossover medley of music that weaves together Indian folk-pop, classical, lounge, elektronika, and Rabindrasangeet (the music of Rabindranath Tagore) is set to be released in New York on Oct 6.

Released with Times Music in India in August, the album will be launched in New York by the Indo American Arts Council (IAAC). The CD launch party will include a special musical performance by Isheeta Ganguly, as well as the New York premiere of the “Bande Mataram” music video, featuring Bollywood superstar John Abraham, which has received significant national acclaim in India.

Rolling Stone magazine raves “Damaru, a six 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.”

“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. The album has been created in active collaboration with percussionist Tanmoy Bose, Bollywood composer Shantanu Moitra, and NY-based elektronika producer Phil Levy.

“These melodic songs represent themes of patriotism, universalism, and love,” says Aroon Shivdasani, Executive Director of the Indo-American Arts Council. “The IAAC is proud to present artists like Ganguly, whose music represents the cross-cultural flux and multi-layered journey in dual worlds.”

Isheeta is a crossover singer of the Indian Diaspora who began her musical journey at the tender age of seven and released her first Rabindrasangeet album at the age of fifteen. Raised in the US, Turkey, Japan, and Indonesia, Isheeta’s music weaves together the many threads of her musical journey from her training in Tagore’s music (under maestro Suchitra Mitra) to her versatile training and performance in jazz, pop, and R&B styles throughout her youth.

She has released seven widely acclaimed Rabindrasangeet albums since her childhood and, more recently, began incorporating sounds of jazz, gospel, and R&B into a contemporary fusion sound which appeals to 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.