They say music knows no boundaries.  It abides by no laws of separation. It freely crosses lines of control, and has the ability to appeal to every colour and every creed, regardless of its expressive language.  But somewhere along the journey, the Bangladeshi music scene had lagged somewhat behind.  Sure there were legends such as Ayub Bacchu, emerging talent such as Habib, but generally, the artists were huge within the borders… but beyond that, seemingly unheard of.

In steps a young boy from Patha Bhavana school in Santiniketan; the very school set-up by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, in 1901.  Following a philosophy of learning with the heart in closeness to nature, he gets a few friends together, and sows the first seeds for the group Bangla Band, with an aim to focus solely on Bengali folk music…

Meet Shayan Chowdhury.  Musical genius, and better known to his loyal fan-following as ARNOB, he is now set to give the world a taste of Bangladeshi music, through the strumming of his guitar, and soothingly mellow vocals.  Today, he is also a member of the band Prayer Hall, has released three solo albums (Chaina Vabish 2005, Hok Kolorob 2006, and Doob 2008), is the CEO of the renowned recording label Bengal Music, and is taking Bangla Band to dizzying heights.

The music?  Well, not surprisingly, it’s not just Bengali folk music that they represent anymore.  Firstly, there’s local-legend bassist, Dhrubo, who features not only for Bangla Band, but for fusion bands such as Ajob and Purbo Poschim, too.  Beat-in there the sound of the dhol, with once-upon-a-time child prodigy, Nazrul, and hammer-in also the contribution of drummer, Jibon.  Finally, sprinkle in the voice of the classical female vocalist Nazia, adding some more soul into the ultimate concoction of melodic ecstasy.  What’s left is Arnob’s innovative blend of traditional instruments, themes and rhythms, together with contemporary harmonies and arrangements, to provide a perfect fusion of East and West, especially with his recent collaboration with Welsh saxophonist, Andrew Morris.  So that’s a bit of Western jazz thrown in there, too.

This October, Arnob and his friends are touring the world, from Washington DC, to New York City, Toronto, Austin TX, and now London.  Thursday 30^th brings them to grace the stage in Bloomsbury, with the backing of global humanitarian organisation Drishtipat - “committed to safeguarding individual’s basic democratic rights, including freedom of expression.”  They have partnered with Arnob and organised the world tour to raise funds for their projects.  Drishtipat is strongly opposed to all kinds of human rights abuse in Bangladesh, with an ambition to unite expatriate Bangladeshi’s worldwide to work on specific issues relating to social justice in their homeland, and ultimately give something back to their people and country.

Alongside Arnob and his band, the night features many other supporting acts, including Mercury Award nominee Zoe Rahman, Labik from the band Ajob, in addition to: Soumik Datta, Nobonita, Sohini Alam, Sajib Azad, Ollie Weeks, Ben Hillyard and Derek Scurll.  With the objective of the night being to perform for the sake of human rights, and with an eclectic mix of funky folk-rock combined further with the best of Brit-Bangla music, The Unheard Voices World Tour promises to be a soul-stirring and almost spiritual experience.

So come along.

We’re definitely keeping that night aside to watch Bangladesh go universal.

For further information, including details on where to tickets, visit: http://www.drishtipat.org/concert2008/london.html

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