Swapan Basu, a virtuoso in folk music, will be commemorating 35 years of his first music cover, ‘Moner Ayna’ at Rabindra Sadan on Friday. A man who had devoted a great part of his life towards understanding and preaching folk music, even more than a folk singer, he is an ethno-musicologist and folk song interpreter. Swapan Basu’s passion led him to travel to different remote villages where he would collect songs from different ethnic groups and would inhale their language, pronunciation and melody.
From songs like ‘Chol Mini Assam Jabo’ to ‘Thakile Doba Khanaa’, Swapan Basu, who lives and breathes folk music, has always focused towards conserving the legacy of folk music and old narratives. His daughter, Shimlli Basu, while conversing with The Statesman, said, “It’s commendable to see someone who has devoted his whole life to holding on to the folk music tradition. While starting as a researcher and being the recipient of the National Fellowship as an outstanding performer in the performing arts from human resource development of India, people appreciated his voice and personality so much that it urged him to become a full-time singer. On 13 September, we will be celebrating his journey, which has played a huge role in my life as well.”