The Indian Music Society of Minnesota (IMSOM) and The Cedar Cultural Center
jointly present a Hindustani instrumental concert by

DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA (SLIDE GUITAR)

with
SUTAPA BHATTACHARYA (VOCAL)
&
SUBHASHIS BHATTACHARYA (TABLA)

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2006
8:00 PM

VENUE:
The Cedar Cultural Center
416 Cedar Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55454

DIRECTIONS AND PARKING:
For directions and parking information, please visit:
http://www.imsom.org/events/20060922.html

TICKETS:
Advance: $18
Gate: $20
Discounts apply for current IMSOM & Cedar Members - please call The Cedar to
purchase (612-338-2674).
IMSOM MEMBER PASSES MAY BE USED FOR THIS CONCERT.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!
To purchase advance tickets, please visit:
http://www.imsom.org/events/20060922.html

SAVE $s! Become a Member of IMSOM today and get FREE passes and discounted
tickets for this concert and others for 2006! To become a member, please visit:
http://www.imsom. org/html_ files/membership .html

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA started learning Indian music from his parents before he
learned the alphabet. In his childhood he mastered many Indian classical
instrumental
styles as well as vocal music from different musical teachers in Calcutta. He
became a
disciple and student of Brij Bhushan Khabra, the father of Indian classical
guitar, for
10 years, and also trained under Ajoy Chakraborty, the eminent Indian vocalist.
He
has also studied with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

As a performer, Debashish gave his first guitar recital at the age of four on
the All
India Radio, and in a public concert. In his twenties, he evolved a unique style
of
playing guitar, synthesizing selected features of various other instruments such
as
the Veena, Sitar, Sarod and Kannur. In 1984, he was awarded the President of
India
award at the age of 21.

Debashish developed his innovative Hindustani slide guitar after years of
research
and experience. It consists of a Hofner acoustic F hole guitar, with a total of
22
strings. He added a platform of wood running the length of the guitar's neck,
mounted with 17 tuning gears. This piece of wood extends the width of the neck,
making room for twelve sympathetic strings, and five supporting strings for
additional versatility. Above the 5 normal (sliding melody) strings, there is a
pair of
ckikari strings, as on a sitar. One of Debashish's innovations was to move them
to the
treble side of the guitar, which enables far more complex playing, since their
rhythmic drones can be played by the fingers, over other melodies
simultaneously.
Debashish plays this guitar while sitting cross legged, with the guitar held on
the lap
and played with a small steel bar, metal picks and a celluloid thumb pick.

Debashish is considered by some critics to be the greatest slide guitarist who
has
ever lived. He has, both through creating the actual design of the instrument,
and
through his incredible talent and discipline, elevated the Hindustani slide
guitar to be
the highest evolution of slide guitar anywhere. Though he is often compared to
V.M.
Bhatt, there is little basis for comparison, because Debashish's music has far
greater
musical range, physical dexterity, and emotional depth. To develop his playing,
he
has undergone decades of disciplined study of Indian vocal technique combined
with
his instrumental work. Debashish can sing perfectly in parallel with every
blindingly
fast melody he plays. Possessed of a very open musical mind, Debashish is eager
and
more than qualified to collaborate and truly blend with musicians from any other
country.

Since 1996, his collaboration with Bob Brozman has resulted in two "World of
Slide"
tours of the USA and Canada, plus more appearances with Brozman, and with The
International Troupe, in Canada and South Africa. Most recently, Debashish has
toured Europe and recorded with John McLaughlin and his latest incarnation of
Shakti.
In 2002, Debashish returned to Quebec with Brozman, and later reunited with him
in
California for the recording of MAHIMA, released June 2003.

SUBHASHIS BHATTACHARYA is a leader of his generation of Indian percussionists.
As
the younger brother of Debashish, Subhashis grew up steeped in the deep musical
background of the Bhattacharya family, learning melody and rhythm from infancy.
His
father Sri Sunil Bhattacharya taught him tabla and his mother, vocalist Smt.
Manjushree Bhattacharya worked with him melodically when he was a toddler.

He started to make his presence felt in the music scene from childhood as a
promising tabla player trained by teachers Sri Prabir Bhattacharya and Pt.
Shyamal
Bose. Now, he is considered to be a master player, and he continues to study
with
Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, the senior tabla maestro. He has regularly performed
in
every major Indian music festival, and has recorded four albums with Debashish
and
seven albums with Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.

Subhashis first toured outside of India in 1996 with Debashish and Bob Brozman.
His
skill and flexibility as percussionist on several instruments, rhythm arranger,
and
vocalist have since been heard on subsequent overseas tours in the USA, Canada,
South Africa, Greece, Kuwait, Bangladesh, and Nepal. A leading studio musician
in
India, he has begun creating and leading large percussion ensembles, and his
arranging skills are essential to the music on this album, as an equal
participant in its
creation. With meticulously tuned hand drums, he played intricate rhythms, plus
melodic parts inside the rhythm section. Creating percussion landscapes by
playing
several instruments on multiple tracks gave Subhashis a sense of liberty,
yielding one
creative explosion after another.

Vocalist SUTAPA BHATTACHARYA, the sister of Debashish and Subhashis, has clearly
inherited the vocal genes of generations of Bhattacharyas. With a master's
degree in
music, she has spent her life as a vocalist and teacher of music. Capable of
singing
fluently in the 10 most well-known languages in India, she sings most genres of
Indian music, from classical and semi-classical to traditional folk songs to
film songs,
both classic and contemporary. On tours with Debashish and Subhashis and also
with
larger overseas touring groups organized by Bob Brozman, she has astounded
audiences and musicians alike by matching Debashish's lightning-fast guitar
melodies note-for-note with her voice. Her 2002 release, JETE JETE, placed among
the top 10 Bangla albums of the year, positioning Sutapa foremost among artists
in
her genre in India.


For further information, please visit:
www.imsom.org

or contact:
Shivanthi Sathanandan: shivanthi@imsom. org, 651-698-0774