MUMBAI: US-based tabla exponent and jazz musician Broto Roy’s album, “American Raga” is now in stores across India.
The album has been released in India by music label IndiaBeat and is distributed by EMI Virgin.
Broto Roy, was born into a prominent musical family of Kolkata where his
great-grandfather *Rajanikanto* was one of India’s greatest songwriters and his uncle Dilip is a popular singing star and constant influence. Broto began to play and learn Indian music from the age of six from noted Indian Tabla maestro Bidyut Banerjee. At the age of 16, Broto travelled to the US where he studied composition and earned a B.A. from the College of William & Mary.
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Broto’s first release in the US was accompanying guitarist Sanjay Mishra – on the CD “The Crossing” which has sold extensively. Also, along with his parents and sister he formed the ensemble “GANGA” to perform the traditional songs and music from Bengal. In 1998 Broto started performing at festivals with his own group presenting his original compositions on the debut album “American Raga” which many musicians claim as an important influence.
Broto has also appeared in a number of prestigious solo percussion recitals and guest performances on CDs with guitarists Fareed Haque (of Garaj Mahal), Sanjay Mishra and Paul Bollenback; organist Joey DeFrancesco; saxophonist Ron Holloway; sarodist Aashish Khan; sitarists Krishna Bhatt, Subrata Roy Chowdhury, Indro Roy Chowdhury, and Grateful Dead member Bob Weir (with the Sanjay Mishra Band) and many others.
The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded Broto two teaching grants in 1986 and 1993 and he is the holder of the ’05 Master and Apprentice grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. In May of ’01 space tourist Dennis Tito played Broto’s first CD “American Raga” aboard the International Space Station. In ’04, the Art & Drama Therapy Institute of Washington, DC commissioned him to compose the song “Let Us Fly” for their disabled and mentally handicapped clients. CNN World News broadcast the premiere of “Let Us Fly” on July 17 and 18, ’04 and said it was “a story of determination to be heard and recognized.”
