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Artist
Kabir Suman
12+ albums
rockfolkindialegendkhayal
about
Kabir Suman or Suman Chattopadhyay (born 1950), is a Kolkata-based modern Bengali singer-songwriter, guitarist, poet, journalist and TV presenter. He changed his name from Suman Chattopadhay to Kabir Suman (Bangla: কবীর সুমন) when he became a Muslim in order to marry the noted Bangladeshi singer Sabina Yasmin (he was already married to his German wife and polygamy is prohibited in India except amongst Muslims). He shot to fame in the 1990s with albums such as Tomake Chai (I Want You) and Boshe Anko (Sit-and-Draw Contest). His contemporary urban, socially conscious songs draw upon both Bengali adhunik (modern) and Western folk and protest music. His work has been a major influence in the development of the Bengali songs, which has influenced many including Anjan Dutta, Nochiketa and bands like Chandrabindoo, and has grown to become a major movement in contemporary Bengali music. Most of his songs are played solo with just a synthesiser or a guitar. Like many Bengali singers, Suman has also recorded albums of Rabindra Sangeet (Songs of Rabindranath Tagore), starting in the late-1990s. Suman’s primary training was in Indian classical music and Rabindra Sangeet, and he picked up Western folk forms while living abroad. From 1975 to 1989 he worked as a broadcast journalist working overseas, living in Germany, where he worked for German International Radio, and in the United States, where he worked for Voice of America’s Bengali language service. He finished his second contract wi
