Deben Bhattacharya (1921-2001) came from an old Bengali Brahmin family, settled in Benares for the last 130 years. He won international recognition as an expert on ethnic folk music, dance and poetry. From 1995 onwards, Deben produced documentary films, records, books, radio programmes and live concerts related to many aspects of his research. Here we present field recordings from various temples of the Sikh, Buddhist and Hindu religions, recorded on location between 1954 and 1973.
Gentle love song, sung in Dari. Tribal sounding, soft and sweet male vocals, native percussion instruments that pick up in tempo after a slow start, vocals also correspond with tempo of song. Keeps picking up tempo throughout, great for Pacific Island and Middle Eastern projects and settings. Male Vocals, Middle East, Afghanistan
Atan dance belonging to Kochi tribe from Jalabad. Exotic and adventurous sounding, native celebrations and celebrities, village life and activity, meaningful, powerful, and brave. Instrumental, Middle East, Afghanistan
Popular circle dance by men on festive occasions. Tribal celebrations, village life in Afghanistan, ancient traditions, exotic. Fast, pulsating beat. Travel to the middle east, desert life, intrigue and danger. Instrumental, Middle East, Afghanistan
Sufi Songs of Love from India. Instrumental. Reverent, quiet, moving, emotional, exotic, percussion and drums. Medium tempo, a bit on the wild and adventurous side mood wise, Instrumental, Middle East, Iran
Used for tribal warriors in old Afghanistan. Driving, dramatic, wild, and very exotic indigenious sound, imagine what the USC Marching Band might sound like in their portion of Fleetwood Mac's 1979 single "Tusk", if the song had been recorded in the Middle East, and you have an idea of this track. Instrumental, Middle East, Afghanistan
Persian song from Herat about separation and nomad movement. Moody acapella style male vocals, slow to medium slow tempo. Mysterious and mystical in nature, deeply emotional and meaningful music of the Persian people. Male Vocals, Middle East, Afghanistan
Uzbek folk melody based on lyrical song. Slow and twangy string picking of indigenous stringed instruments of the Middle Eastern, Arabian and Afghanistan people. Terrific for scenes depicting village life in Afghanistan or war stories set partially in the Mid East. Instrumental, Middle East, Afghanistan
Meditative music of India and Tibet. Solo male chanting and singing joined by chorus, sitar, indigenous percussion and woodwinds. Male Vocals, Indian, Indian Spiritual Music