Western Music in Bangladesh - a Curse or a Blessing?

Abstract

Bangladesh is a rich musical playground. People of this country have variety of musical

taste, but for the last twenty years western music has made a radical change in the taste of

the music lovers of Bangladesh. All though it was highly criticized at the beginning but

soon most of the musicians appreciated it. Our radio and television media played a vital

role for the exposure of western music. Many bands have come across to create Bengali

songs with a touch of western flavour. Although there have been many criticism, new

bands were formed and with the help and suggestions of senior musicians they have

managed to mix up the western music with traditional Bengali songs and created a new

genre which is known as fusion. So that day is not far away when Bangladeshi songs will

make its own place in world music.

Western Music in Bangladesh: A curse or a blessing?

Introduction:

Farzana Rashid, a 25-year-old school teacher never leaves home without her cell phone.

And it's not just because she wants to stay in touch with everyone while she's away. Her

Nokia 7610 is loaded with MP3 songs and when she gets bored of them she just switches

on her favorite radio station to listen to the new releases of her favorite artistes. This is

the scenario of how Bangladeshi people are attracted to music. Bangladesh has a very

rich musical heritage since music has always played an important role in the lives of the

people. Over the times new influences where introduced to our music culture and musical

styles have changed. Musical development was better than many other spheres of life

because such development was well appreciated by the music gods. After liberation war,

western music made an immense change in our music taste. Though there were lots of

criticisms regarding the practice of western music in Bangladesh, it has many positive

impacts on our music arena. We have added a new gene in our culture which is known as

Fusion1. Besides we have improved the overall sound quality of our songs throuth the use

of western instruments and equipments. Many re known artists and performers are now

habituated with western influence and it also added a new horizon to our Bengali Music

Culture.

Early Days:

Soon after our War of Liberation in 1971, Azam Khan, with Uchcharon and the Akhand

Brothers (Lucky and Happy) created hype in the music industry with their straight-

down-the-line magnetic songs during the early and late 70's. Happy Akhand's "Abar elo

je shondha" is a milestone and probably one of the dearest songs ever produced. The

steam of western music has entered in our culture through various paths. The broadest

was band music. Besides, there were other musical arenas where western music has been

playing vital role since the early 80's. The film industry of our country is one of them.

"When it was necessary we used keyboards, saxophon and guitar. There is no

shame using western instruments beside our traditional ones like dhol, tabla,

harmonium, bashi etc" (Personal interview with Alam Khan, Music Director)

according to him, if we want to pace up with the advanced world, want to develop our

sound quality there is no other alternative.

Exposure of Western