Saturday, June 25, 2016

Kalpana Patowary #Independent groove at Blue Frog Mumbai 2016.



Kalpana Patowary is a prolific vocalist, based in Mumbai. She has performed and recorded with some of the biggest names in India and on the International arena. In 2009, Kalpana Patowary got introduced to world renowned percussionist Trilok Gurtu and together they collaborated for a Neo jazz folk fusion project “Massicle” released from BirdJam Label Germany and later Times Music  India. Kalpana also performed live with Trilok Gurtu as the main vocalist and the band performed in Blue Frog, Bacardi Nh7 Weekender in Pune and Bandra music festival. Kalpana’s experimentation with various folk forms, led to the release of a world music album, titled “The Sacred Scriptures of Monikut” about the reformer, wandering philosopher, saint and poet, Mahapurush Srimanta Shankardeva and Madhavdeva.The album features collaborations with Trilok Gurtu again, Guru Rewben Mashangva – the father of Naga folk blues, and PAPON Angarag Mahanta,  the lead singer and founder of the folk-fusion band called Papon and The East India Company.

On the 3rd edition of Mtv@CokeStudio, she performed with Papon for the Rajasthani fusion track “Baisara Beera”.

Presently Kalpana is seen with Dhruv Ghanekar, the co-founder of the path breaking Blue Frog - a State of the Art Live Performance venue, most sought after composer, producer and highly respected Guitar player based in Mumbai who balances his time scoring music and performing his funky brand of Jazz and Indian sound.

Dhruv Ghanekar collaborated with Kalpana for the song “Baare Baare” on his album Voyage, weaving a rich tapestry of Assamese folk and traditional grooves combining with tunes of Maghreb region of North Africa.  'Voyage' is a musical sojourn of various international cultures as seen and heard through Dhruv’s Indian lens. In 2015, Kalpana Patowary produced a Bhojpuri musical document “Anthology of Birha” a folk form of the Ahirs of Uttar Pradesh. They together collaborated on a track Khadi Birha from the album ‘Anthology of Biraha ‘in the 4th season of Mtv@CokeStudio with folk tunes of the Ahirs of Uttar Pradesh merged with African music.

Kalpana Patowary is one of the few stalwarts who have popularized Bhojpuri folk music combining with contemporary style. The growth of the Bhojpuri Indie music genre can be attributed to a few determined artists like Kalpana Patowary who takes Bhojpuri music to the class. Kalpana's work on this season of Mtv@CokeStudio has been critically lauded and videos of his tracks have received thousands of views on YouTube within a week.

Now they form a band “DhruvVoyage” where Kalpana Patowary is on vocals, Gino Banks on Drums, Sheldon in Bass Guitars, Arthur Gregorian on sexaphones and Ramon Ibrahim on Keyboards and Dhruv Ghanekar on guitar. The six members came from backgrounds varying from folk to jazz and blues to Indian sound.

As promotional activity, this band has performed in True school of Music Mumbai. The band has also performed at the October fest Bacardi Nh7 Weekender - the happiest music festival in Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune. They performed for the first anniversary of Blue Frog Bangalore this 17th June 2016 and will be performing live on 24th June 2016 in Blue Frog Mumbai with featured guest Carl Clements,Saxophonist and Flautist from America.









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