Her latest album lays the ground for Isheeta Ganguly’s interpretation of Rabindrasangeet through her influences in jazz, gospel and pop
Shamik Bag
She begins singing a Senegalese gospel composition, which soon enough floats effortlessly into the popular Tagore composition, Mamo Chittye. It is not just the common motif of the two songs with a bird and dancing feet allegorising the free spirit, that intrigues Isheeta Ganguly, but also the structural affinity that some of Tagore’s compositions share with gospel music.
Yet, when Ganguly had to make a list of songs for her latest album, Natun Joubaneri Duth, released on Saregama, or for the forthcoming one where percussionist Tanmoy Bose has collaborated with her, she deliberately shied away from many of the well-known Rabindrasangeet tunes that have been touched by Tagore’s musical worldview. Instead, she shortlisted Tagore songs that could be easily interpreted through gospel, jazz and pop sensibilities. “Songs like Purano Shei Diner Katha and Ami Chini Go Chini are already known for their bias towards Western music. But I’m more fond of Tagore’s raga and folk based melodies. His Brahmo music and Sufi music too lend themselves well to gospel,” says Ganguly, who performed at Crossword on Wednesday and will be performing at the USIS this evening.
Her dual musical inclination came about as a result of her travels across the US, Turkey, Japan and Indonesia, countries where her father’s job took the family, and also through her background in Rabindrasangeet. The stringed instrumental music of Japan, Middle-Eastern sounds at Turkey and the percussive element in Indonesian music have, in various stages of her life, inspired her. But it was in the US, where she got trained in Western classical vocal music at the Lincoln Center by the legendary jazz singer, Nancy Wilson, which really opened up musical horizons for her. “A strong foundation in Western Classical vocal music can help in any genre of music. Then while studying at Brown University, I was part of a pop acappella group and while touring the country, I got to know about the entertainment aspect of music.”
It was a need to “jazz up” Rabindrasangeet that made her veer away from the format of her debut Rabindrasangeet album, Tomar Ei Naam Bolbo, or the two albums she recorded with her teacher and veteran Rabindrasangeet exponent, Suchitra Mitra. Those albums, incidentally, were cut during the era when Viswa Bharati still held the copyright over Tagore’s works. The lifting of copyright restrictions has not only helped her “tremendously”, but has also laid the ground for a more creative expression and interpretation of Tagore’s music. In the case of Natun Joubaneri Duth it has been attested by Mitra, the music director of her album. “Rabindrasangeet continues to appeal to a niche audience, and its spread is limited not just abroad but also in India. Yet, I have noticed that whenever I have performed in front of an international audience, possibly because of the universality of the themes, Rabindrasangeet has been well received. It is also true that Rabindrasangeet, like jazz, relies a lot on minor scales.”
Ganguly has previously worked with Shabana Azmi and Madhur Jaffrey in a multi-media work of author Shashi Tharoor’s Riot, “which was especially relevant in the post 9/11 scenario in the US for its espousing of communal harmony.” But when she uses Rabindrasangeet as a template to create world music with Tanmoy Bose in her next album, scheduled for an international release in October, Ganguly will be attempting to tie up her “many musical threads”.
Isheeta Ganguly performs at the USIS this evening
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