Lakshmi Puja in St. Louis

Date : 3rd November, 2007

Venue : Mahatma Gandhi Center

727 Weidman Road

Ballwin MO 63011

Special Attraction

Bengla band Kaya performing in the evening after dinner. Here is a report about the band's tour from 'The Telegraph'

KAYA

The accent of KAYA is on melody and rhythm. The lyrics go fondly with the tunes. They are several notches higher than any run-of-the-mill band and coming with more tunes, more songs and more fun to us. KAYA, infusing new life into folk, has been attracting young to old, since their first stage show in December 2002. They offer a variety of songs set to tunes of colorful melodies and music blended with the rhythmic liveliness of joy. All of their albums, “Kaya”, “Sha Na Na”, “Dhuk Puk” are already big hits with a fourth one coming up just before the Durga Puja. KAYA was bestowed the Best Band Award from Zee Alpha Bangla, in the year 2005. The band's versatility is amazing, superlative in some sense - from folk-rock numbers like Jigicha Gichang, Sujan Sujan to western-based numbers like Toke Chhute Chaai, Udashi Udashi to foot-tapping melodies like Sha Na Na, Faguner Din, Missed Call etc. - their repertoire is remarkably vast. Judge for yourself and you will definitely become an instant fan of KAYA. The Talented Troop

Arindam – Bass, Lyrics

Started learning Jazz under Kingshuk Dasgupta followed by Blues and Rocks from Amit Dutta. Besides learning fusion music from David Jackson, Arindam learned Jazz from Cariton Kitto and performed worldwide.

Pulak – Vocals, Keyboard & Composer

Started as a disciple of the famous piano Maestro Mr. V. Balsara and thereafter learned Jazz Piano from Sham Engineer. Associated with the Fusion Group “Rhythmscape” with Bikram Ghosh. Played keyboard in Anoushka Shankar’s album “Rise”. Performed worldwide.

Subhasis – Percussion

Started learning drup playing under the tutelage of the Great Drum Player, Amal Roy. Turned into a professional drum player since 1992 and performed in India and abroad.

Subir – Flute

Started his musical career with Flute under the famous Pt. Debaprosad Bandhopadhyay. The Gold Medalist Subir was placed First Class First from the Instrumental Department of Rabindra Bharati University.

Raju – Lead Guitar

Started learning under Carlton Kitto and Benu Chatterjee. Raju, the son of famous music director Durbadal Chatterjee, has experienced of playing music under some of the noted music directors of Kolkata.

Archan – Vocals

Started learning from his childhood from Abhijit Bandopadhyay and Ajay Das. He received HMV Talent Hunt Award. Archan has done many stage shows throughout India .