Gourab Das - Harmonica
Gourab Das, best known as Harmonica Gourab, is an Indian Harmonica player, singer, music composer, musician, a teacher and a philanthropist. Gourab’s work is particularly noted for fusing Indian classical music, Tagore-Songs, Bengali Folk Music with Classical American Jazz, Blues, electronic music, world music and traditional orchestral arrangements.
With an in-house studio, Gourab's musical career began during the early 2000s with the experimentations on Bengali Folk Songs and Tagore Songs. Gourab is one of West Bengal’s most popular Harmonica artists, with thousands of fans and followers on social media. In a notable one-decade career, he has been acclaimed for redefining contemporary Bengali music and contributing to the rejuvenation of a not-so-much-known art form Harmonica playing. Gourab has become a notable humanitarian and philanthropist, working actively for a number of social causes and charities.
Contents[edit]
Early life[edit]
Gourab was born in Chinsurah, West Bengal, India. His father, late Shri Gobardhan Das was a Gynecologist who passed away in the year 1998, when Gourab was a kid. He was raised by his mother Rupa Das, who works in the Health Department of Government of West Bengal.
His early childhood days were modest, just as a regular kid in the neighborhood. He was a brilliant student, as his teachers say, but contrary to the mainstream preferences of becoming a corporate official his inclination had always been more towards making an alternative career, a career in music.
He was trained in vocals under the guidance of his mother initially, and later he learnt Hindustani Classical and other forms of traditional music from Shri Radhakanta Mallik. Gourab started playing Harmonica since 2004 and for the initial years he was mostly self-taught about how to play this instrument. Later, in the year 2010, he had gotten in touch with Dr. Babita Basu, who is also a famous Harmonica player. Inspired by her, Gourab then took up Harmonica more diligently and started training formally under her guidance. Gourab’s first public performance on Harmonica was in the year of 2012, at an annual cultural event organized by the Health Department of West Bengal Government.
From MCKV College, which is affiliated under West Bengal University of Technology, Gourab graduated with a degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering in the year 2010. He was employed with Godrej Security Solutions briefly, in between 2010 and 2011, during which he was temporarily living in Mumbai. He made a decision to come back to Kolkata and took up a job at Cognizant Kolkata. Later he decided a completely different life-path, in the pursuit of music.
Musical Career[edit]
Gourab initially started playing regular Bengali songs with certain improvisations based on the ragas they were on. He would visit places like Shantiniketan, Purulia, Hooghly, etc. to find different kind of folk tunes and then he would create his pieces with classical raga-based improvisations on them. Some of his early creations were composing background scores for stage performances like dance recitals etc.
Shabda-kalpa-drum was his first musical venture as a group. Later with time, he created his own YouTube channel and Facebook page. He started composing more music, other than performing in events.
He is well known for his versatility in combining Western classical music, Hindustani Classical, Carnatic Classical, Bengali traditional/contemporary and folk-music with jazz, reggae and rock music. Tracks like ‘Ki Name Deke…’ or ‘Ei Meghla Dine Ekla…’ has garnered thousands of views, likes and shares on social media. They have created a sensation in the hearts of all music lovers in West Bengal. In the year 2014 Gourab expanded his home recording studio into a more professional set up. The following year he launched his own website https://www.reverbnation.com/harmonicagourab/. Gourab's music has been sampled as part of other musical arrangements in many projects, appearing as background scores on many recitals and children’s’ playbooks.
Awards[edit]
Apart from getting thousands of positive reviews on social media, several of Gourab's scores have earned him many prestigious awards ranging from 2nd prize in the Rabindrasangeet Category at the All India Harmonica Playing Competition organized by All India Music Institute, and 3rd prize in the Classical category at the All India Harmonica Playing Competition organized by All India Music Institute in the year 2014.
Personal life[edit]
Gourab is married to his childhood love Antara Roy who is also a musician. She is a vocal artist, performs at the All India Radio. Both of them live at Gourab’s ancestral house in Chinsurah, West Bengal, with Gourab’s mother Mrs. Rupa Das.
References[edit]
Collaboration project with Radio Mirchi Kolkata - on the occassion of Poila Boisakh - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfpxFsFvMD0
Gourab's Website - https://www.reverbnation.com/harmonicagourab
Gourab Das, best known as Harmonica Gourab, is an Indian Harmonica player, singer, music composer, musician, a teacher and a philanthropist. Gourab’s work is particularly noted for fusing Indian classical music, Tagore-Songs, Bengali Folk Music with Classical American Jazz, Blues, electronic music, world music and traditional orchestral arrangements.
With an in-house studio, Gourab's musical career began during the early 2000s with the experimentations on Bengali Folk Songs and Tagore Songs. Gourab is one of West Bengal’s most popular Harmonica artists, with thousands of fans and followers on social media. In a notable one-decade career, he has been acclaimed for redefining contemporary Bengali music and contributing to the rejuvenation of a not-so-much-known art form Harmonica playing. Gourab has become a notable humanitarian and philanthropist, working actively for a number of social causes and charities.
Early life[edit]
Gourab was born in Chinsurah, West Bengal, India. His father, late Shri Gobardhan Das was a Gynecologist who passed away in the year 1998, when Gourab was a kid. He was raised by his mother Rupa Das, who works in the Health Department of Government of West Bengal.
His early childhood days were modest, just as a regular kid in the neighborhood. He was a brilliant student, as his teachers say, but contrary to the mainstream preferences of becoming a corporate official his inclination had always been more towards making an alternative career, a career in music.
He was trained in vocals under the guidance of his mother initially, and later he learnt Hindustani Classical and other forms of traditional music from Shri Radhakanta Mallik. Gourab started playing Harmonica since 2004 and for the initial years he was mostly self-taught about how to play this instrument. Later, in the year 2010, he had gotten in touch with Dr. Babita Basu, who is also a famous Harmonica player. Inspired by her, Gourab then took up Harmonica more diligently and started training formally under her guidance. Gourab’s first public performance on Harmonica was in the year of 2012, at an annual cultural event organized by the Health Department of West Bengal Government.
From MCKV College, which is affiliated under West Bengal University of Technology, Gourab graduated with a degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering in the year 2010. He was employed with Godrej Security Solutions briefly, in between 2010 and 2011, during which he was temporarily living in Mumbai. He made a decision to come back to Kolkata and took up a job at Cognizant Kolkata. Later he decided a completely different life-path, in the pursuit of music.
Musical Career[edit]
Gourab initially started playing regular Bengali songs with certain improvisations based on the ragas they were on. He would visit places like Shantiniketan, Purulia, Hooghly, etc. to find different kind of folk tunes and then he would create his pieces with classical raga-based improvisations on them. Some of his early creations were composing background scores for stage performances like dance recitals etc.
Shabda-kalpa-drum was his first musical venture as a group. Later with time, he created his own YouTube channel and Facebook page. He started composing more music, other than performing in events.
He is well known for his versatility in combining Western classical music, Hindustani Classical, Carnatic Classical, Bengali traditional/contemporary and folk-music with jazz, reggae and rock music. Tracks like ‘Ki Name Deke…’ or ‘Ei Meghla Dine Ekla…’ has garnered thousands of views, likes and shares on social media. They have created a sensation in the hearts of all music lovers in West Bengal. In the year 2014 Gourab expanded his home recording studio into a more professional set up. The following year he launched his own website https://www.reverbnation.com/harmonicagourab/. Gourab's music has been sampled as part of other musical arrangements in many projects, appearing as background scores on many recitals and children’s’ playbooks.
Awards[edit]
Apart from getting thousands of positive reviews on social media, several of Gourab's scores have earned him many prestigious awards ranging from 2nd prize in the Rabindrasangeet Category at the All India Harmonica Playing Competition organized by All India Music Institute, and 3rd prize in the Classical category at the All India Harmonica Playing Competition organized by All India Music Institute in the year 2014.
Personal life[edit]
Gourab is married to his childhood love Antara Roy who is also a musician. She is a vocal artist, performs at the All India Radio. Both of them live at Gourab’s ancestral house in Chinsurah, West Bengal, with Gourab’s mother Mrs. Rupa Das.
References[edit]
Gourab's Website - https://www.reverbnation.com/harmonicagourab
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