PARVATHY BÂUL AND HER MUSICIANS

	Parvathy Baul : vocals, ektara and duggi Parvathy was born 1976. She started singing and dancing at an early age in different Bengali folk styles. She is also trained as a painter. At the age of 17, she was initiated to Baul practices by Shri Sanathan Das Baul from the Bakura district, one of the highly honoured Baul gurus from Bengal, who is now over 80 years old. Although she follows his style, she always puts her own flavour to her songs. Parvathy is a full time practitioner ; mostly she sings with ektara and duggi while dancing. It is in a slow motion which is very specific to that school. Although she now lives in Kerala, Parvathy goes back to Bengal every year in order to live with different masters and learn more songs and practices from them.
	Viswanath Das Baul : vocals, ektara and duggi Viswanath is 41 years old and started singing at a very early age. He is the elder son of the famous Baul singer Shri Sanathan Das Baul, whom he accompanied to almost all his performances. He got his Baul initiation from the 108 years old Birajanandaji - Khepa Baba Shri Manohar Thakur, and also learned from various Baul masters. Viswanath creates his own poetry, and his singing with ektara and duggi is very much influenced by that of his father, which represents a blending between Birbhum and Bakura styles.
	Khijmat Ali Fakir : vocals, dotara Khijmat has been initiated into Sufi practice by his master Kader Fakir. He has also travelled all over Bengal to collect songs. He is 58 years old and he sings to the accompaniment of his dotara. His dance is very sober and beautiful, without spectacular movements due to his instrument. He is specialised in singing Lalan Fakir songs, and his style represents the Nadia style of singing. Khijmat Ali Fakir knows more than 700 songs by heart, which he has learned through a purely oral tradition (in fact he cannot write nor read). He is living in a small hut with his wife and an adopted child.
	Somen Baul : vocals, gopi yantra (ananda lahari) Born in a family dedicated to folk theater, Somen Baul, now 47, ran away from home at a very early age in order to become a Baul. He learned the art of singing and the spiritual practices from Manohar Goswami, who represents the 15th generation of a tradition going back to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He sings to the accompaniment of gopi yantra or ananda lahari, and his style is quite distinctive, different from that of the other members of the group. He is very radical in his approach, highly disciplined in his dance style.
	Awasad Seikh : sarinda Niranjan Haldar plays the sarinda, a folk fiddle of a very old origin, which used to be played by many Fakir Bauls. Being in his early 40s, he belongs to a family devoted to singing, playing the sarinda and making musical instruments since three generations ago. His style is typical from Northern Bengal. Due to health problems, he had to leave singing a few years ago. Therefore he developped his sarinda playing to a high degree of excellence, accompanying not only Bauls, but also folk singers of different styles.

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