Illustration by Anup Ray

Ace percussionist Bickram Ghosh has stepped out in a new direction. Rabindra-nath Tagore’s evergreen songs have been given lounge music treatment in his soon-to-be-released album, Tagore Lounge.

Giving Rabindrasangeet a twist, Ghosh fused it with Sufi music, injected it with classical alaaps, Western orchestra tones, sounds of the sarod and a touch of electronica. The album will be launched in November under his own music label, Melting Pot Productions. Says Ghosh: “The sounds are very Indian, but have elements of world music.”

In a year when the country is celebrating Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary, a clutch of artistes is re-inventing Rabindrasangeet. Since Visva-Bharati’s grip over Tagore’s works expired in 2001, musicians have begun experimenting with Tagore’s songs with a vengeance.

Today, Tagore’s songs are resurfacing at their experimental best. If you’re hungry for fusion, there’s Rabindrasangeet combined with Indian classical music, infused with jazz, lounge, pop and even Western orchestra. “The aim is to draw the youth to Rabindrasangeet by the sheer variety of sounds,” says Ghosh. And that’s not all. Artistes are experimenting with Tagore’s dramas and poems to popularise them among Gen X.

It’s not surprising then that it’s been a high decibel year for vocalist Sounak Chattopadhyay whose forte lies in fusing Rabindrasangeet with classical music. Chattopadhyay has trained in Rabindrasangeet from singers Pramita Mallick and Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta and classical training from Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan and Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan of the Kirana gharana. In his last album, Nuton Sonatan Rabindranath, he mixed Rabindra-sangeet with classical bandishes that inspired Tagore. He says: “Of the 10 songs, I’ve sung five in the traditional style while the other five have been sung along with classical bandishes.”

Chattopadhyay adds: “I’ve used traditional and Western instruments to bring out the richness of the songs.” That includes classical instruments like the ghatam, mridangam, Morsing (a percussion instrument used in Carnatic music), sarod, along with the piano, guitar, violin and keyboards.

Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee (centre) is drawing the youth by presenting Tagore’s works in cafes and nightclubs; (above left) Bickram Ghosh’s album gives Rabindrasangeet a lounge feel

At another level, tabla exponent Tanmay Bose is drumming up a new beat with Baul singers to present Tagore’s songs in a new format. A recent perfor-mance in Calcutta titled Rabi Bauler Gaan, saw Bose jam with singers who sang Tagore’s songs and Baul numbers. Tagore’s songs were sung by Lopamudra Mitra while Baul songs were by Shashtidas Baul and Nikhilchandra Baul, and Bose played with his band, Taaltantra.

The success of the concert encouraged him to work on an album with 10 Rabindrasangeet numbers along with folk songs of Bengal. He says: “Tagore was the guru of fusion. He was influenced by Baul singer Lalan Fakir too.” Bose is re-packaging the songs using the piano, guitar, khamak ektara and keyboards. The album will be released next year.

International performers are tuning in too. US-based Bengali singer Isheeta Ganguly, 35, has jazzed up Rabin-drasangeet in her recently launched album Damaru in English, Hindi and Bengali. She’s woven in Indian folk, classical, jazz, lounge and electronica.

The album has tracks arranged by composers Shantanu Moitra, Tanmay Bose and New York-based electronica producer, Phil Levy. It also features a special voice-over of Where the Mind is Without Fear by actor John Abraham. “I haven’t tampered with the melodies. They have a universal appeal. Tweaking his compositions means denouncing him as a composer. I’ve just penned my own lyrics and restructured the arrangements,” says Ganguly, a singer and management consultant.

Damaru by Isheeta Ganguly has elements of jazz with Rabindrasangeet; (above) Tanmoy Bose has roped in Baul singers to re-invent Tagore’s songs

Ganguly was brought up in the US, but she trained under veteran singer Suchitra Mitra. She also took lessons in opera, jazz, Indian classical music and pop. The shift towards a contemporary rendering of Rabindrasangeet started in 2000 when she collaborated with the American troupe, Battery Dance Company, which danced ballet to 18 raga-based Rabindrasangeet compositions sung by her.

Artistes agree that Tagore’s work has limitless possibilities. Theatre person Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee wants to draw young people to Tagore and has chosen to do this in cafes, nightclubs and art galleries. “I’ve organised readings in cafes and art studios that got a good response from young people,” he says. He also conceptualised a show titled Tagore@Unplugged at Someplace Else at The Park, in Calcutta, where Canada-born Bengali singer Sasha Ghoshal mixed Tagore’s song Bohe Nirontoro Ononto Anandodhara with Michael Jackson’s We Are the World.

This apart Chatterjee had also organised an event called Tagore and Erotica at the Weavers Studio, an art gallery in south Calcutta. Here eminent Tagore scholars along with Chatterjee read out texts from Tagore’s various novels to highlight Tagore’s take on sexuality. Recently Chatterjee did a fashion show called Tagoreana on “Thakurbar-ir fashion.” Now, he is busy putting together a show which will infuse Tagore’s poems and plays.

Sounak Chattopadhyay is combining Tagore with classical ragas

There’s also singer Pramita Mallick, who recently recorded a 4-CD pack titled Visva-Jatri Rabindranath. It has 50 compositions that Tagore wrote outside India and Harvard historian Sugata Bose reading out poetic translations of the songs in English. Mallick also plans to stage Tagore’s dance drama Tasher Desh in English and Bengali using puppetry. She says: “I want to conceptualise it like a Broadway musical — on a larger scale.”

Is this form of experimentation here to stay? “A musician has the right to experiment. However, one shouldn’t tamper with Tagore’s melodies and overall rhythm,” says singer Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta. Mallick agrees: “It’s encouraging to see Tagore’s work generating enthusiasm in the youth. But one shouldn’t engage in mindless fusion.”