MUMBAI: The 'Bhojpuri Queen', that's Kalpana Patowary, who is known among her friends, followers and fans for her honey-blend. She had a start in the golden years of the late 2001s in the bustling city of Mumbai, India. Thus began a comprehensive journey that generated mass hysteria and established this soothing vocalist as one of the most potent new voices in India. Radiomusic.com had a candid conversation with the eccentric singer recently. Read on to know more.

Speaking about her childhood, she said, “I started performing publicly at the tender age of 6. I remember doing riyaz with my father in Dotara (a two strings instrument, mostly used for folk music). My father, Sri Bipin Patowary, a proficient folk singer himself taught me in Kamrupiya and Goalporiya Assamese folk music. I have worked as a theatre and radio artist, though I didn’t have technical knowledge when I started singing. I have always been immensely interested in different genres, languages, literature and phonetics of singing culture.”

Her recent musical documentation on the Shakespeare of Bhojpuri Literature ‘The legacy of Bhikhari Thakur’ was released from EMI Virgin records, London. She got International acclaim with the release of this album on Bhikhari Thakur as the music speaks to the separation, longing and anticipation that marks any experience of migration.

While talking about her collaboration with world renowned percussionist Trilok Gurtu, she said, “I was introduced to Trilok Gurtu in 2009 for a Neo-jazz folk fusion project Massicle. All I can say is it was all about rhythm intricacy. It was definitely challenging for me and I was satisfied whatever I did on the album.”

Speaking about her present and upcoming projects she said that she will be singing for a film called Begum Jaan, directed by Srijit Mukherji. “I want to maintain the legacy of Bhikari Thakur. I just released a music video on Raas Leela on this Janmashtami. I also want to work on the folk music of Dalit’s, tribal folks, jazz, and blues and finally bring them together a whole new approach,” said the singer.  

Read on to know more: Kalpana Patowary, Asha Bhosle to sing for Begum Jaan

Presently Kalpana is associated with Dhruv Ghanekar, the most sought after composer, producer and highly appreciated guitar player based in Mumbai. Recently the multilingual singer, Kalpana collaborated with Dhruv Ghanekar for the song ‘Baare Baare’ on his album Voyage, which gave us a rich tapestry of Assamese folk and traditional grooves combining with tunes of Maghreb region of North Africa. They together collaborated on a track ‘Khadi Birha’ from the album ‘Anthology of Biraha’ in the 4th season of MTV Coke Studio with folk tunes of the Ahirs of Uttar Pradesh merged with African music.

The band ‘Dhruv Voyage’ includes six members who came from backgrounds varying from folk to jazz and blues to Indian sound. Kalpana Patowary is on vocals, Gino Banks on drums, Sheldon in bass guitars, Arthur Gregorian on saxophone and Ramon Ibrahim on keyboards and Dhruv Ghanekar on guitar.

Kalpana Patowary will be performing with her band Dhruv Voyage at BlueFROG as the iconic venue takes its curtains off on Sunday 28 August 2016.