Baul meets jazz in Kolkata

Kartick Das Baul jams with Bengali jazz band, Just Us. The musical culture and life style of the Bauls has inspired village life in Bengal so deeply that Bengalis have protected Baul practitioners for many centuries. This thousand-year-old genre of music finds its voice through wandering minstrels who sing in praise of God, rising beyond the barriers of all communities.

Recently, Kartick Das Baul, a renowned Baul singer performed with a Kolkata based five-member jazz band, Just Us. What was interesting in this jam session was the presentation of Baul fusing with contemporary music. But this kind of a platform is not new to Kartick, who is a member of the Chennai based folk band Oikyataan. "I began singing with a band named Abhilasha but when things did not work out I left for Chennai and joined Oikyotaan in Dec, 2001. This band was founded by singer Bonnie Chakraborty. He had heard my singing earlier and invited me to join the band. It is only now that I have started jamming with other bands as well. But I am not willing to compromise on the essence of Baul music. The important thing about Oikyotaan is that the focus is on the singing," says Kartick.

This band has incorporated Bhatiyali, Bhavaiya, Jhumur along with Baul, and has mixed them with contemporary music. The magic of this kind of music can be assessed from the fact that the Fireflies Festival of Music at Bangalore, inspired by the World Sacred Music Festival, has been inviting them as chief guests for the past two years. The Dehototto and Fakiri songs presented by Kartick at the World
Sacred Music festival at Berlin in 2003 left the audience amazed at his ability to handle an instrument like the Anandolahari (a small drum also known as the khamak) which has no notations, along with his ability to dance and sing without a snag. Eminent tabla player and music director, Tonmoy Bose has performed with him for his band Taaltantra.

In fact, the Bengali film Anuranan, where the music is by Tonmoy, finds Kartick's voice the right note to begin the film with. He has also performed with established Hindi singers like Sukhvinder Singh and Kailash Kher for the film Mangal Pandey, The Rising. Via Darjeeling, another Bengali film due to be released, also showcases his voice.

But Kartick who has been a Baul singer for the past 25 years, is quick to stress, "I am known because of my Baul singing and not because I jam with other bands. It is my singing that has opened up other avenues for me. I'm involved in these activities only when I am not busy. From December onwards I get busy with Baul performances at the Baul fairs all over Bengal including Shantiniketan, Joydeb Kenduli and Sriniketan. The Baul Fakir Utsav held in January in Kolkata is also in great demand," says the Shantiniketan based singer. Kartick however, does not rest his laurels here. There is talk of forming a four member band which is still in the formative state. With the first audio CD by Oikyotaan scheduled for release in September, it seems Baul music is here to stay.