KAUSHIKI CHAKRABARTY (INDIA)
Jon Lusk (courtesy of fRoots)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/awards2005/profile_kaushikichakrabarty.sh
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'Like father like son' goes the old expression, but what do they say
about a daughter who follows in her father's footsteps? "My
relationship with baba (dad) has always been centred around music.
Baba has always been more of a guru (teacher) and less a father for
me," Kaushiki Chakrabarty told The Times of India in 2000.

Kaushiki is the child of celebrated Hindustani (North Indian)
classical singer Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty and his wife Chandna, who
was her daughter's first guru. Born in 1980, Kaushiki is said to
have been able to sing well since she was only two, and has been
accompanying her father on his globetrotting tours since the late
eighties. After beginning more formal study at the age of ten, under
her father's guru Gnan Prakash Ghosh, Kaushiki eventually switched
to training with her father at his Shrutinandan school of music in
Kolkata (formerly Calcutta).

All the years of practising for up to six hours a day are beginning
to reap rewards, and she is now being hailed as one of the brightest
emerging artists in Indian vocal music. As critic Ken Hunt put
it, "we are talking superlatives". In response to the suggestion
that he might have hot-housed his daughter, as celebrities often do,
Ajoy Chakrabarty told India Today: "When a flower blooms, one
doesn't shove it under the nose. The fragrance travels by itself."

Although she is so far known for her performances of khayal and
thumri (the two main 'semi-classical' or 'light classical' styles of
Hindustani music), Kaushiki has also studied South Indian music.
And, like her father, has dabbled in popular music, contributing a
song by A.R. Rahman to the soundtrack for Deepa Mehta's
controversial forthcoming film Water (possibly to be retitled River
Moon). Kaushiki also holds a first class Honours degree in
Philosophy, which doubtless colours her approach to singing.

Kaushiki's slim discography includes her solo debut "Footsteps"
(1998) and "A Journey Begins" (2002). Her most recent album "Pure"
(2004) is an aptly named document of a performance given in London
on 30th August, 2003. Live recordings in most genres are generally a
let down, with the notable exception of Hindustani classical music.
Backed by tanpura drone, tabla and two harmoniums (one played by her
father) Kaushiki displays unique phrasing, breathtaking control, and
a tone of astonishing purity.