The first time I met Mala was at a show in Melbourne back in the March of 2012. There were talks of making an album with Shaiyan Chowdhury Arnob and Mala decided on calling it E Ki Ajob Karkhana.
E Ki Ajob Karkhana – Jaat Gelo was the first track that was recorded later that very year in Bangladesh and was published as a video in early 2013. It was as if by the help of invisible hands that the music took shape. After a few days of recording Mala’s vocals for Jaat Gelo I met Farsim Hossain at a music workshop who had come up with a beautiful guitar arrangement for the song. Soon enough we got him into the studio to record the guitar parts. Denny Jimmy Martinez from Lokkhi Tera was snatched up after a show (during the brief time the band was in town) and his clever bass line can be heard on the track. The dazzling Electronic Piano (EP) parts and solo was played by Eivind Lodemol.
As time went by, Arnob bhai let me take more and more creative decisions for the project as he kept an ever so careful watch from the top. He would nudge and guide me when I ran out of ideas. There were times when I would be completely clueless about what to do when he would sit me down and we’d work out the interludes together.
O Amar Dorodi is another track where musical giants can be heard. Jasimuddin’s old folk song is funked up a tad with Pantho Kanai singing a duet with Mala and, the one and only, Nazrul Islam playing the Bangla Dhol. Our very own Musarrat Jabeen Rahman’s flute – Jethro Tull meets Baul flute – can also be heard in our rendition of Lalon Shah’s Milon Hobey Koto Diney.
All the songs, except for Jaat Gelo, were arranged around James Hodson’s guitar framework and James also played bass on all the songs. Early 2013, Mala and James came to Dhaka to record vocals, guitars and bass. Later, Mithun Chakraborty was brought in with his eclectic mix of percussions. He too can be heard on most of the tracks in the album.
Plenty of other musicians were involved as well. Utpal Das Baul (Shantiniketan) plays the flute in Kulhara Kolonkini; Sankha Subhra Talapatra (Shantiniketan) plays the Esraj on Shono Go Dokhino Hawa, Nodir Kuler Lagi Ami Kandi and Pagol Chara Duniya Chole Na. Ariba Tahrim Chaudhury’s harmonies and ad libs can be heard in Shono Go Dokhino Hawa, Nodir Kuler, Ke Jash Rey and Pagol Chara. Labik Kamal Gaurob (dotara) in Ke Jash Rey, Saadul Islam (Electric Guitar) in Pagol Chara and in the last track of the album, Namaj Amar, Arnob’s astounding vocal solos.
Finally, at the end of the music production chain Buno graced us by taking up the job. His steady demeanor and meticulous execution of the task at hand left me in awe. What I learned mostly from watching Buno bhai is that great work comes through perseverance.
Coming back to the main question, what was my role in the album?
The job entailed me to wear many different hats. Primarily, my role was that of a director of music, where I decided with the instrument players what melody or rhythm worked best with each song. A lot of the times I had to double up as the recording engineer (most vocals, guitars and bass were recorded at Adhkhana Muzik) and sometimes even as an instrument player. The job also meant talking to TV and radio stations regarding the shows and interviews.
The album is finally done and available in stores and I am hastily trying to finish off the article as I keep getting threatening calls from Aumia, my friend and the Assistant Editor of the magazine, to hand it over. I started writing it a few months ago when we were at the final stages of mixing at Buno bhai’s studio. The making of the album was literally a journey for me. I was based in Shantiniketan, India during most part of the production process where I met bauls and musicians who are featured on the record. A lot of the times things didn’t necessarily work out. I remember that once I took a train from Kolkata to Bombay in search of a mixing engineer and ended up spending more time with old friends rather than getting any musical work done. I tried mixing the songs in Kolkata and that did not work out either as we failed to achieve the sound we had envisioned.
While the album has been released in Bangladesh under a local banner, we have also been lucky in signing a contract with the Indian Record Company, Sa Re Ga Ma, who are currently preparing for the Indian and international release of E Ki Ajob Karkhana.. It will be available online as soon as Sa Re Ga Ma makes its launch.
The record has been received well by the audience, media and friends in the music industry judging from the airplays on radio and TV channels. If you haven’t heard the album, pick up a copy today and feel free to email me with your feedback on the music.
Yours sincerely,
Samir Obaid
samir.obaidaudio@gmail.com
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