Gautam Choudhury (born 24 April 1940) is an Indian musician and amateur archivist most known for his efforts to collect and record the work of

Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali, Hindi cinema, Hindi and Malayalam films, Malayalam films. ...

(Salilda). He has recorded several instrumental albums on which he plays harmonica, recorded tribute albums to Salilda's legacy, and runs the website The World of Salil Chowdhury, an online database of Salil Chowdhury's work, including rare or unpublished compositions. He currently resides in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

with his wife.

Early life in India

Choudhury was born and raised in

Dhanbad Dhanbad is the second-most populated city in the Indian state of Jharkhand after Jamshedpur and a major financial hub of Jharkhand. In terms of economy, Dhanbad has the largest economy in the state of Jharkhand and it is often referred to as th ...

, Jharkhand. He discovered his love of music at the age of 8 when his grandmother gave him his first harmonica. He attended

Patna university Patna University is a public state university in Patna, Bihar, India. It was established on 1 October 1917 during the British Raj. It is the first university in Bihar and the seventh oldest university in the Indian subcontinent in the modern e ...

in Bihar, where he became acquainted with the work of the notable Indian composer Salil Chowdhury, whose music became an important inspiration to him. Besides the harmonica, he also started playing the acoustic guitar. After graduating, he moved to

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

and played chord harmonica in The Bloworms. He was also a member of the

Calcutta Youth Choir Calcutta Youth Choir () was set up in 1958 by Ruma Guha Thakurta with Salil Chowdhury and Satyajit Ray. Calcutta Youth Choir is known for their performance of folk and mass songs. Several years ago, the choir broke out with the song 'Aaj joto ...

as a singer and a rhythm guitarist. Later, he performed as a session musician for a few

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

films.

Musical career abroad

After working for a few years Choudhury left India and lived in the UK, Germany, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands working as an IT consultant. In 1981 he met Salil Chowdhury while visiting India. They became friends and met frequently during the following years. In 1993, Choudhury released his first harmonica album, Tribute to the Maestro, featuring Salilda's music. After Salilda died in 1995, Choudhury began work on creating and preserving Salilda's work. In 1998, he launched The World of Salil Chowdhury website, a complete online archive of Salilda's music and writing, which he continues to maintain. Choudhury is a passionate harmonica player and collector of harmonica recordings from around the world. He owns several unique and rare harmonicas including a

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and a chord harmonica and is an admirer of the jazz harmonica player

Toots Thielemans Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and wh ...

. Choudhury feels that the harmonica as an instrument is often not valued sufficiently, stating in an interview with the Bangalore Harmonica Club that "It's not perceived or respected as a musical instrument in India and not taken seriously." Choudhury is a member of the National Harmonica League and The Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica and was involved in the production of the 1972 documentary

Playing the Thing Play is a range of Motivation#Intrinsic and extrinsic, intrinsically motivated activities done for recreation. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other high ...

which highlighted some European and international harmonica players at the time. Choudhury's latest harmonica album
Remembering Dada Burman
was released in 2014.

The World of Salil Chowdhury

The World of Salil Chowdhury is an online archive and database of Salil Chowdhury's work and compositions. It contains over one thousand songs in ten languages composed by Salil Chowdhury. Choudhury created it as a memorial of Salilda and to highlight his lesser known work, including rare and unpublished compositions and alternate recordings of songs. Included on the website is a list of films for which Salilda has composed songs as well as

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

songs and songs of

political protest Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. The branch of social science that studies poli ...

written by Salilda early on in his career. Choudhury includes notes based on his research that explain how he found or came to own some of Salilda's more obscure compositions, as well as blog posts and news articles announcing changes or new additions to the catalogue.

Tributes to Salil Chowdhury

Beginning in 1993, Choudhury started recording harmonica albums featuring Salil Chowdhury's songs. Choudhury's final tribute to Salilda was recorded just after his death in 1995. Afterwards, Choudhury began researching his unreleased work from the '40s and '50s. In 2010, he released Songs of Consciousness, an album featuring many of Salilda's rare songs. A second album of unreleased songs, featuring compositions written just before Bangladesh became independent was produced and released by Choudhury in 2011.

Discography

* Tribute to the Maestro (1990) * Down Melody Lane with Gautam Choudhury and His Harmonica (1992) * Tribute To S. Chowdhury (1995) * Tribute to Kishore (1995) * Songs of Consciousness (2010) * Songs of Bangladesh Independence Movement (2011) * Remembering Pancham (2012) * Remembering Dada Burman (2014)

References

External links

The World of Salil ChowdhuryUnderscore Records
* ttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTFbjP3AxtP0nZS2PIA4wiw/featured #GautamChoudhury on Youtube {{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Gautam 1940 births Indian male musicians People from Dhanbad Living people