A Benefit Performance to raise funds
for visiting playwright Ranjon Ghosal

The Classical Music Traditions of
South India and North India
intertwine with American Jazz
in an historic first encounter
between  renowned musicians
Prasant Radhakrishnan and George Brooks.

Carnatic/Jazz Saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan
Hindustani/Jazz Saxophonist George Brooks
bassist Bishu Chatterjee
tabla player Vishal Nagar
and jazz drummer Rusty Aceves

 ~ tickets for the September 24 benefit
are available in advance at the bookshop ~

Ranjon Ghoshal will be coming to the Bay Area in October from his home in Bangalore, in the South Indian state of Karnataka, to perform his play “Crisis of Civilisation: A Journey With Tagore”  — first, as an excerpt on a program that will be presented on Sunday, October 13 by Bird & Beckett at San Francisco’s Vogue Theatre as part of the annual Litquake festival; and subsequently, at full-length at an East Bay venue and date to be announced.

By attending our September 24 benefit concert and/or contributing directly, you will be helping Ranjon with the considerable travel expenses entailed in his visit.

Ranjon Ghoshal’s home in Bangalore, “The Yellow Submarine,” is a focal point for a number of intellectuals and artists in the city. He is an active member of the Bangalore theatre scene, directing and performing plays in English with the group ‘Forum Three’. In the 1970s (with cousins Gautam, Pradip & Bishu Chatterjee), Ranjon was a founding member, lyricist and organizer of the trailblazing Kolkata folk rock band Moheener Ghoraguli. Ranjon has long written poetry and fiction in both Bangla and English, as well as scripting films and stage plays.

Coming up – Bird & Beckett at San Francisco’s Vogue Theatre – Sun., October 13:   During the annual “Litquake” festival, which takes place each October drawing tens of thousands to venues all across town for literary readings, Bird & Beckett will present “Mohin’s Horses: South Asian Oral Literature, Poetry and Music,” featuring a performance by Ranjon Ghoshal from his play on Tagore; a reading of Sri Lankan Tamil poetry in translation; screenings of film documentaries “The Endless Journey” on Subal Das, baul singer of Bengal by Ladly Mukhopadhaya, and “Moheener Ghoraguli Remembers Gautam Chattopadhyay”; plus a live performance by the band Bengal & Beyond.  Check the Litquake site at www.litquake.org.