It was a riff revolution at Hard Rock Cafe Kolkata as musicians celebrated National Guitar Day recently. Bodhi & The Omega Force (an experimental jazz fusion band) with guest artistes Amyt Datta, Rajiv Mitra (vocalist of Bangla band Lakkhichhara) and Adil Rashid (guitarist of Underground Authority) presented a powerful setlist comprising compositions such as Destroyer, Manifested Coincidence, Crystal Planet, Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers, Ballad of Broken World, Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love, Prithibi, Comfortably Numb and more.
From originals to covers of popular numbers, Bodhi & The Omega Force (Bodhisattwa Ghosh on guitar, Gaurab Chatterjee aka Gaboo on drums, Mainak Bumpy Nag Chowdhury on bass and Subhagata Singha aka Rivu on keys and guitar), along with the guest artistes made National Guitar Day memorable for music enthusiasts in the city this February. A t2 chat...
Bodhisattwa Ghosh What was the genesis of the gig?
One fine day TalentWala called me and they wanted me to curate something, so I pitched the idea of performing with Bodhi & The Omega Force. I also thought of bringing in guest musicians, so obviously I invited Amytda, who’s my guitar teacher, Adil and I asked my bandmate Rajiv Mitra and he joined us for two songs and we performed a cover of Prithibi. About four songs out of 15 had vocals and the rest were all instrumentals. I hope it becomes an annual calendar event.
Tell us about The Omega Force.
I started off with rock music, and I have my own jazz fusion set-up called The Bodhisattwa Trio, but I always had this love for rock guitars and the guitar gurus I worshipped while growing up, with plenty of compositions in my pipeline without a space to fit them all in. So, I decided to start this project with my dear friends.
How do the other instruments complete a guitarist’s life?
“My favourite part is that we all had our originals and compositions on the setlist. We paid tribute to our guitar heroes... despite being a drummer, I have always been fond of guitar music and I’ve been a great Hendrix fan. It’s always great to perform with this team and share the stage with these guys,” said Gaurab
I believe the guitar is an icing on the cake and the main ingredients are the bass and drums. Without a solid rhythm section, nothing would sound good as it lays the foundation. I am very fortunate that my band members agreed to play and I have the highest regard for them.
What kind of bond do you share with them?
They’re my friends, and our relationship goes back a long way, we’ve always got each other’s back. Gaboo and I met in 2001, Bumpyda in 2008 and Rivu is like a guitar-mate from Amytda’s classes. The common ground is music of course! However, over the years, our relationship has grown beyond music. They’re an integral part of my life and are as important as my family members. So, primarily we’re best of friends who’re bandmates.
From 2001 to 2024, how has the live music scene changed in Calcutta?
There have been ups and downs. Right now there’s a huge struggle because mainstream culture and music have the financial backup and independent music is sort of suffering in a way. There are online platforms like Spotify and YouTube where you can put out your independent work, but to take it to the stage is a bit of a challenge because there aren’t many organisations to endorse and support it. It’s great that we get to play but all the economic focus is on the commercial side and this is a problem. So, we’re trying our best and hopefully, such gigs at places like HRC and other venues will make the scene much better.
Which guitarists have had the maximum influence on you?
There are many from across genres. Amyt Datta has been a massive influence in my life and I’ve been learning from him since 2002, and even though I don’t take regular lessons, I always ask him questions, we catch up over coffee sometimes, we’re great friends and I’m blessed to have him in my life. He’ll always remain one of my greatest inspirations for my career and my soundscape. Guitarists like Hendrix, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour and Steve Vai are my favourites in rock. From jazz and fusion, I’m a huge follower of Wayne Krantz, Allan Holdsworth, John Scofield, and many more. From blues, B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
What are your upcoming projects with The Omega Force?
Rivu
I want to release an album and we performed an original I composed called, Destroyer. I want to record that with this line-up and tour India with The Omega Force, featuring guitarists from the city we visit. With The Bodhisattwa Trio, I’m planning to do a series of concerts with them in India which will be a five/six-city tour and that’s the plan right now.
What are your takeaways from the concert at Hard Rock Cafe?
I was happy with the turnout... it was a full house. There’s a demand for guitar-oriented line-ups, which makes me very hopeful and happy.
Amyt Datta We loved the concept and performance. What are your thoughts on it?
As I keep saying, performing and playing the guitar is always a great experience. But every time I play, it’s like a new experience. Especially improvised music, because you don’t know what you will play. So that’s quite thrilling. Also, it’s an additional thrill when you know a gig is coming up because the live music scene is rare nowadays. The initiative is great... and the more, the better.
You shared the stage with your students…
It was great to play with them and share the stage with them. Some of my students have a prospective future in the music industry. If they carry on, they’re going to shine bright. But that’s the thing... what happens is, when you start, you’re young and starry-eyed with a guitar in your hand and big dreams ahead, but in reality, jobs, responsibilities of your family and then the grim shades of life reveal themselves and you get distracted from the guitar playing and the instrument finds a permanent spot in the cupboard. However, I can still see a lot of potential in my students if they manage to keep it up.
What was your favourite tune from the setlist?
I love (Jimi) Hendrix. I can reharmonise his tunes a bit, I can overlay it with my own soundscape a bit. His tunes can be bent and modified to fit into any genre that you’re playing, provided you know what you’re doing. You can make it a semi-jazz version, a hard rock version, or maybe an experimental version.
When are you planning to release your new work?
We (Amyt Datta Electric Power Quartet) have already started mastering songs from the upcoming album, and only the last two or three are remaining. Hopefully, by March we’ll be done with the mastering and it’ll be out soon.
What about tours?
I’m not touring with my pieces at the moment, but there’s an ongoing tour with Anjan (Dutt) to Australia and it’s so much fun. I’m going to carry on with music for as long as I live. What we need is support in the form of awareness, finances, infrastructure and not just money into mainstream music and commercial stuff. We need more takers of the kind of music that we do.
