Senses

Bapi Das Baul is the representative of the eight generation of the most talented and famous Baul family in India. Since his infancy he has been taught by his father Puma Das Baul and his grand father Nabani Das Baul to sing, play instruments and to practise the Baul meditation.Bapi possesses an incredible energy and his curiosity is inexhaustible. That is why he is not afraid to play, sing and dance with other groups of any kind of music with his own Baul instruments. He performed with Zap Mama (for whom he composed and recorded the song India on the album Sabsylma). He met Joseph Archer and Remi Ongala in Womad festivals and played with them during workshops and concerts. One of his composition has been chosen by Tony Gatliff for his movie Mondo. Since a few years he is very close to the Asian underground scene in London. He played in several concerts of FunDaMental, Transglobal Underground and Natacha Atlas. In the album of Transglobal Underground Rejoice Rejoice he composed and played the song Body Machine.Since 1999 he created a new group SENSES where he mixes his tradition with western instruments and electronic sounds. Bauls are originally from low social levels and as minstrels, travelling from village to village, they don't own so much and don't go to school, they are often illiterate. But far from being uneducated they display a tremendous storehouse of oral knowledge: sacred scriptures, mythologies, secular literature and folklore.Many poets and philosophers have written texts for the Bauls. The most famous is Rabindranath Tagore who has been very influenced by their music and philosophy and who has composed a lot songs. But the Bauls have no time for intellectualisation.Senses:Bapi das Baul - vocals, dubki, khamak, ektara, mandiraTapas Roy - dotara, banjo, oud, vocalsSukumar Das - flute, vocalsNanda Dulal Das - dhol, khol, mandira, vocalsBiswanath Roy - tabla, dho, vocalsLalit Kishor Battacharya - violin, sarangi, vocals