?Mosha.? Aziz points at a mosquito bite and mouths the second Bengali word he picked up (the first being ?dhonyobad?) on Tuesday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Debuts with top British band Simply Red, graduates to Asia, fills a tough spot in Britain?s cult group the Stone Roses, post Rose-split continues collaboration with its leader Ian Brown? Aziz Ibrahim?s resume makes an impressive read.

But none of this is what the guitarist is in town for. Instead, it?s to give Calcuttans a taste of his own music at a Someplace Else acoustic concert on Tuesday, something he terms ?Asian Blues?. And what?s that? ?I can tell you what it?s not,? says Aziz, clad in black shirt and denim, and sporting a Bono-esque pair of wraparound shades, even in a sunless British Council room. ?It?s not black American blues and it doesn?t necessarily have to have 12 bars. It?s the Asian man?s blues, about how he feels not being treated equally.?

Aziz was born in Pakistan in the early 60s, from where his parents migrated to Manchester, UK. His first and only album, Lahore to Longsight, chronicles that journey (Longsight being the Manchester ghetto he grew up in).

?I picked up the guitar at seven seeing a schoolteacher play it. It looked interesting,? says he. But it was much later, while studying for a biochemistry course, that he received a call from Simply Red. ?A lot of money and touring were offered and it was one of the most popular bands of the time. What else can you ask for?? Aziz wonders. The transition, ?from city life to rock star was quite unrealistic and dreamlike?.

What?s been real and nightmarish, though, is racism, ?blatant or hidden?. A victim, Aziz feels it?s getting worse. ?Either they tell you to your face that you can?t do something because you?re Asian or you find out you didn?t get a project because you?re Muslim. Then there are the jokes about your identity and even death threats.?

In the Stone Roses, Aziz was finally able to be himself. ?The Roses changed UK ? the fashion, culture and everything else, and it was a privilege to be a member,? says the musician who was asked to join after guitarist John Squire left the band. Names vying for what Oasis? Noel Gallagher famously described as ?the hardest job in the world? included Guns N? Roses great, Slash. ?They couldn?t take him because he wore leather pants,? laughs Aziz.

He started concentrating on his solo career after the Roses split in 1997. Soon after, Aziz met tabla-player Dalbir Singh Rattan, another Asian based in Birmingham, with whom he?s touring these days. Lahore to Longsight was released in 2001 on Aziz?s own label, Indus Records. His musical influences range from Bollywood (black and whites, Sholay, the Kapoor family) to reggae, jazz, rock and Indian classical music (Amjad Ali Khan, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Zakir Hussain).

Last year was a ?beautiful, but very strange? maiden trip to Pakistan (?I met 45 cousins and so many uncles and aunts for the first time?). India is also a first (?I?ve taken to the country without being patronising?) for the man who performed in Mumbai, Delhi and Pune, and will head for Darjeeling after Calcutta, to round off his tour.

?I?m told Calcutta is very open to musical forms and that it?s a very vibrant place.? He?d like to gift the city ?the power of acoustic, Asian music?. Also on the cards is an album in February 2005.