Nagar Baul (English: ''Urban Baul'') is a Bangladeshi rock band that was founded in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

in 1977 by

Kumar Bishwajit Kumar Bishwajit (born 1 June 1963) is a Bangladeshi singer and composer. He received Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer two times for the films ''Swami Streer Wada'' (2009) and ''Ma Amar Chokher Moni'' (2011). He also g ...

. The band is considered to be one of the pioneers of rock and blues music in the country. The frontman of the band,

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

, is referred to as the "Guru of Rock" as a mark of respect.

History

Nagar Baul started in 1977 and was originally named Feelings and was formed by

. Band members included Ayub Bachchu and James. Ayub Bachchu left the band in 1980. They released their first album, ''Station Road''. James, lead vocal and guitarist, composed all the tracks, and wrote the lyrics for five of them. Though the album was not a hit, the tracks "Ager Jonome", "Amai Jete Dao" and "Rupshagor" enjoyed moderate success. In 1993, they released their second album, ''Jail Theke Bolchhi''. This album was a major hit, and Feelings became a mainstream band. In 1996, they released their third album, ''Nagar Baul''. '' The Daily Star'' wrote, "Nagar Baul introduced Bangladesh to a whole new way of singing". It had the "classic" and "iconic" song, "Taray Taray Rotiye Debo", based on the poem "Uttor" by great poet Shamsur Rahman. In 1998, they released their fourth album, ''Lais Fita Lais''. In 1999, the band was renamed from Feelings to Nagar Baul. In 2001, their fifth album, ''Dushtur Cheler Dol'', was released. This was their first album release under the new band name Nagar Baul, named after their album from 1996.

Members

Present members * Faruq Mahfuz Anam James — vocals, lead guitars * Ahsan Elahi Fanty – drums * Sultan Raihan Khan – lead guitars * Talukdar Sabbir – bass guitar Past members *

Ayub Bachchu Ayub Bachchu (; 16 August 1962 – 18 October 2018) was a Bangladeshi rock guitarist, composer, singer and songwriter, who was the founder of the Bangladeshi rock band Love Runs Blind and earned success as the lead singer and the lead guitarist ...

– lead guitars * Saidul Hasan Swapan – bass guitar *

Saidus Salehin Khaled Sumon Saidus Salehin Khaled Sumon (born 8 January 1973), popularly known by his nickname Bassbaba Sumon, is a Bangladeshi rock singer-songwriter, bass player, composer, music producer and founder of the Bangladeshi rock band Aurthohin. He is the ba ...

– vocals, bass guitar *

Pantha Kanai Pantha Kanai (born 2 February) is a Bangladeshi singer, drummer, tabla player and music teacher. Early life He was born and brought up in the port city of Chittagong. His mother is a musician. He learned to play the classical tabla at an early ...

– drums * Khayem Ahmed – keyboards *

– lead vocals * Shimul Azhar – bass guitar * Azizur Rahman Tinku * Md Imtiaz Ali Zimi – drums(2007-2017) * Khokhon Chakrabarty – keyboard

Discography

* ''"স্টেশন রোড (Station Road)'' (1987) (Originally known as ''Feelings'') * ''"জেল থেকে বলছি (Speaking from Jail)"'' (1993) * ''"নগর বাউল (Urban Baul)"'' (1996) * ''"লেইস ফিতা লেইস (Lace Ribbon Lace)"'' (1998) * ''"দুষ্ট ছেলের দল (Mischievous Boys' Party)"'' (2001)

References

{{reflist Bangladeshi rock music groups 1977 establishments in Bangladesh Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups from Chittagong