Songs of Lalon Shah

The Bengali poet Lalon Shah, popularly known as Moner Manush (Man of the Heart), is the most celebrated of the Baul mystic singers and musicians. In the 19th century he rejected the religious dogmas of Islam and Hinduism and saw the divine within each person's soul. He was hugely admired by Rabindranath Tagore and his fascinating, but sketchy, life story has been made into several films. His lyrics, like those of Rumi, are universal, and in the right translations could win him an international audience. They are certainly widely known by Bengali speakers.
In Bangladesh everyone cites Farida Parveen as the greatest singer of Lalon Shah's songs. This live 2006 recording from Paris' Théâtre de la Ville gives us ten songs that encapsulate Lalon's ideology. ‘Lalon Koy Jaatir Kee Roop’ is perhaps the most famous, in which he says he doesn't see differences of caste and religion. Others prominently feature his imagery of a bird (representing the soul) and the cage (the human body). Parveen is a classical, rather than a Baul, singer but she totally inhabits these songs, backed by a superb ensemble of percussion, dotara (lute) and bamboo flute, the quintessential Bengali instrument, played here by Gazi Abdul Hakim. This is a rare example of a quality recording with decent translations to help a wider public reach this extraordinary figure.