Murshidi and Sufi Songs: Field Recordings by Deben Bhattacharya

These are some of the last recordings made by celebrated musicologist Deben Bhattacharya (pictured above, left) in February 2001, shortly before his death. They were recorded in Dhaka, Bangladesh for a documentary about his life, La Musique Selon Deben Bhattacharya. The murshids are fakir musicians who perform the fabulously rich heritage of Bengali devotional songs, drawing on Hindu, Muslim and Baul traditions – though they are not Bauls, they are very similar in their freewheeling message of love for the divine. One of the songs praises wise, long-haired writers of the world, including Socrates, Shakespeare, Tagore, Bengali poet Nazrul Islam and Baul mystic Lalon Fakir.

There are four rough-edged singers singing two or three songs each, accompanied by a wonderful group of musicians on dhol (drum), khartal (finger-cymbals), ektara, bowed sarinda and flute. The latter is heard during an extravagant solo in ‘Arey Bondhu Amarey je Rekhey Gelo’. You would typically hear a harmonium in such an ensemble, and I wonder if Bhattacharya specially requested a group without one, to present a more transparent texture. Occasionally the singers veer off microphone, but the freshness and vibrancy makes this a very special release.