the LEELA ensemble
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What is LEELA?
LEELA is NOT a closed membership musical band, rather a band that is an ensemble, a concept,a forum and a process for radical cultural praxis for those who want to take music as praxis.
LEELA is NOT a so called `cool’, `fashionable’ and `smart’ ....`band'. Those who want to be so called `cool’ and `smart’ and `in fashion’, LEELA can’t help them out.
LEELA is always open to welcome new comrades and say good bye to the olds who differ and disown its philosophical standpoint regarding music and culture and its practices. Even it welcomes members who initiate different groups of their own, separating themselves from LEELA.
LEELA…a fashionably good name! what really does it mean, anyway?
in Bangla’s tradition, two different categories/ideas are used to explain/interpret the world and its events…LEELA and Nitya…Nitya is the eternity/void/real... Nitya is NOT day- to-day events…and LEELA is the praxis and celebration of truth, of liberated desires.
what is important is praxis, important is the struggle of huge masses, of people around the world - who are celebrating their life as the struggle goes on for liberation and for peace.
LEELA is part of this praxis and this struggle, calling fellow folks in celebrating life through all this.
so here comes another typically ‘different’ Bangladeshi Rock/Fusion group!
`bands’ in Bangladesh are typically formed by the most privileged faunas who “love music”…they shout as they “rock”, “heavy metal” and whatever; they make melodies, melodramas; they “appreciate” classical music, they play drums and electric guitars, sometimes also sarod or esraj or khol; they even sing Lalon, Shachin, Abdul Alim and so on, because they “love music”…and so they make “proper”, “beautiful”, “appropriate”, “pure”, “joss” music.
but well, for LEELA, this is not all that simple…we celebrate, utter, locate, symbolize, and expose the cause of music - its social and cultural, politico-philosophical-aesthetic composition…we challenge and offer the so-called `audience’ and `consumer’ to take part in a counter-discourse of music and music of counter-discourse.
for us, silence and sound and tune and music is nothing absolute and `independently’ worthy of love, or of a ‘beauty’ that we desire for…music, like `love’, is not value-free… simply…music is loaded with ideology, value. it symbolizes, it signifies. it is signified at the same time…`abstract’, `surreal’, `modern’, `postmodern’, `normal’, `smooth’, ‘not-smooth’…whatever, no matter what we do, ideology and politics remains.
every composition, every tune, every lyric, every organized, organized-disorganized or whatever, sound and silence has its own socio-cultural-political-genealogical-historical grounds and skies, suns and moons, trees and plants, animals …beings and events…there are parts and wholes of truth procedures…there are perspectives…gazes…ideological apparatuses.
so you have four: science, love, politics and art a.k.a music.
music…hmm…what kind of music? who is/are your guru/s? who are you influenced by?
it all depends on what you mean by inspiration, learning and practice: praxis…the baul-fakir-shadhok-revolutionary-visionaries-practitioners are our inspiration…for example, it is fashionable to name, for instance, lalon...there are a lot of names. in fact you too! society at large.
capital makes or uses fashion…fashion compels…for instance, folks/bands/singers sing, let’s say, lalon fakir songs without upholding the philosophy and politics of the songs, as these ‘music lovers’ “love” music…we are not in this lovers’ paradise...
also for example, people do their rock/metal etc. because they “love music”…we do our `rock’, with our own forms, adding what comes inspirationally, from west and north and the global south…we are inspired by the music and the musicians who do music as praxis…NOT “pure art”…we are not going to make a list of those names here.
some people say, oh! your music is, in some cases, influenced by baul/folk/nazrul/rabindra/gonosangeet/rock/…what not…
thank you! because you are saying that we are on the right track…
yes, we are inspired by, among others, Nazrul, Hemango Biswas, Rage Against The Machine, Bob Marley, Pete Seger...
did someone speak the word “commitment”?
sorry, LEELA is not a formation for the fashionable nonsense of charity and social commitments, as some who perform only for raising funds for let’s say AIDS “victims” and the “poor”, and don’t bother about the social and political cause of AIDS or poverty.
rather we ask for the creative use of our commonsense to look into the matter of the issue.
rather we work with the social processes which raises questions and fights in solidarity with the “victims” to overcome the problems - poverty/exclusion/injustice; fights against the exploitative, unhealthy, and unsustainable social, economic and political systems.
now talking of some important, necessary clichés…which side you are in?
besides its musical causes and concerns, LEELA has a commitment towards the development of local entrepreneurship and immanent self-development of our society, incorporating all the achievements of societies and communities around the world… LEELA feels itself committed to the identities of different nationalities and the sovereignty of people…it is committed to healthy international relations based on co-operation and solidarity for respective nations and peoples of the world.
LEELA is opposed to imperialism and war.
LEELA is committed to a non exploitative, non hierarchical, co-operation and solidarity based local, national and international order…LEELA is opposed to mindless consumerism…LEELA is opposed to racism, sexism and patriarchy and all forms of exploitation, repression and hierarchy.
who can join LEELA? what if i want to join LEELA?
to work in LEELA means to encounter multiple challenges.
we look for musicians who are courageous enough to take up the challenges of being part of the strategic interventions through a counter culture which is critical of and opposed to patriarchy, sexism, machoism, capitalism, consumerism, `djuice’ culture etc.
it is not enough to simply know how to play an instrument...to work in LEELA, you have to have a mindset to learn about the history, culture, politics and philosophy of music; about society and culture as a whole...and to practice what your learning teaches you.to be part of LEELA, one has to practice a radical lifestyle described above.
we call our `audience'/frnds/fellows to join us and strengthen the processes of change we have started and the processes we are part of and work together in solidarity.
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founded in 2005.
founder and ensemble lead: Arup Rahee.
current line up:
guitars: Saif fakhrul islam, shamimul bahar; dotara: sharif , dhol: ashis, banshi: khairul; lyrics/vocal/tune: rahee; mandira: nayan, drums: mehmood; bass: tanvir.....
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published album: NAYAK. produced by BAHIRANA AudioVisual. Distributed by Agniveena-G series. 2009.
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for an excellent critic of LEELA and NAYAK, click:
http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2009/09/01/music.htm
http://www.brooklynvoice.com/asia/leela.html
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we are happy to share that track NAYAK with you. you may download the track from this link and listen to.
http://www.mediafire.com/?zddxbmonmlm
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links of some facebook groups of interest:
lifestyle and politics
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5318670897
we oppose corporate sponsorship in Lalon Utsab
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10305711299
LOKOJ INSTITUTE
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21676044523
Binirman Andolon
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20057021197
Carnival of Resistance!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=89933542938
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