Sourav Chowdhury is one of the promising young
experimentalist of Harmonica whose tonality has already been widely appreciated
and accepted on a global scale. Sourav's own musical voayage started at a very
young age of five when he was introduced to Farrukhabad Gharana of Tabla
playing by his father Shri Chandan Chowdhury, a student of the aforementioned
Gharana. Sourav was introduced to the world of Harmonica at the age of eight by
his maternal uncle Shri. Bhaskar Chowdhury who happens to be one of the closest
disciple of the Indian Harmonica Legend Late Shri Milon Gupta. Shri. Bhaskar
Chowdhury is presently an empanelled artist with the All India Radio. Sourav's
initial days of Harmonica training involved hours of practice sessions with
chromatic Harmonica under the supervision of his uncle. Sourav recalls those
magical hours when his uncle used to explain the subtle
nuances of harmonica playing and striking a pefect poise between technique and
expression. Sourav considers himself immensely fortunate that he grew up
listening to recorded-performances of legends like Larry Adler, Jerry
Murad,Charlie-mcCoy,Tommy Reily and so on.These were some of the precious
possessions of his uncle, which he received as gift from Lt.Milon Gupta.
Sourav gets nostalgic about those days when he used to wake up in the morning
listening to his mother rendering raga 'nat-bhairavi' and after whole day of
hectic school and study schedule going to bed with Larry Adler’s harmonica
creating the night's esoteric musical scene. In this connection it is apt
mentioning that his mother Smt. Munmun Chowdhury is an exponent of
Rampur-Sahaswan gharana and is highly influencial in shaping Sourav's way of
perceiving music.
Sourav gave his first public Harmonica performance at the age
of ten. Since then he has been featured in many prestigious cultural gatherings
in Kolkata and places outside coupled with some televison appearances. With
time Sourav has grown from a performer of Harmonica to an innovator of the
instrument. Over the last few years he is putting his thoughts on a World-music
format, which is itself a vast subject to explore.
Presently a doctoral researcher at the Indian Institute of
Chemical Biology, Kolkata, Sourav strikes a perfect balance between his
scientific quests and musical explorations. With lot of film, television and
audio productions in pipeline Sourav personally feels he is now in his second
phase of learning where he is scouring in the realms of World Music. His first
audio project “Shades of Tagore” is slated for a gala launch latter this year.
Shades of Tagore is a joint venture of Sourav and elite music director Tunai
Debashish Ganguly and is framed on the format of World music. Sourav's endeavour
in the World Music was acknowledged by eminent Harmonica player Jean Laber when
he cited Sourav in the monthly magazine of Harmonica France as the symbol of
World Music years back in 2007. Sourav’s tonality has been appreciated by
musical giants like JJ Milteau, Yanni, Jia-yi-He and so on.
Recently he is busy with film and album assignments and is
trying to strike a balance between recording sessions and own studies with
Chromatic, Diatonic and Orchestral Harmonica.
