The Houston/Kolkata musician’s song has been co-produced by The Koniac Net’s guitarist Jason D’Souza
David Britto
Oct 06, 2020
Multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Akash Majumdar aka kasah. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
Multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Akash Majumdar – who uses the moniker kasah – counts late Kolkata jazz guitar legend Carlton Kitto as one his biggest influences in music. He says, “Carlton opened my eyes to a whole new world of music: jazz,” says Majumdar. The musician often played sax for the Carlton Kitto Jazz Ensemble for three years before he moved to Nashville to learn vocal jazz performance and improvisation at the Blair School of Music. 2020 has seen the now Houston/Kolkata artist release three singles, including most recently the poignant “Cross My Bridge.”
Although Majumdar thinks of the piano as his primary instrument, with the guitar he’s been able to delve into the world of songwriting. He says, “It doesn’t have the range of a grand piano but being able to provide a percussive feel to drive a song while building harmonic or melodic structure around it is so, so special.” The ability to work on material with various instruments has allowed the artist to explore different styles of music.
Before “Cross My Bridge,” Majumdar put out his debut single, the mellow “Happy for a Day” and it’s follow-up, the jazzy “You Are My Everyone.” He says, “’Cross My Bridge’ is perhaps the track to which I’m most attached.” The powerful ballad – which is a departure in sound from the previous singles – includes an emotional piano arrangement that drives the song while Majumdar’s passionate vocals hit all the right notes. “I’m really happy with how my vocal harmonies ended up dovetailing with the overall arrangement to create the final product,” he says.
The musician recorded all his songs at his bedroom studio and was introduced to Mumbai guitarist-producer Jason D’Souza (who performs with rockers The Koniac Net) by fellow producer Arnob Bal. Apart from contributing synths to “Cross My Bridge,” D’Souza also co-produced all of kasah’s songs and even mixed them. “He [D’Souza] is an incredibly talented musician and producer,” says Majumdar. Toronto-based Kristian Montano has mastered the musician’s tracks.
Majumdar is currently in Houston where he works as a marketing professional and has taken in the culture of the city, from its food, art, music and business, but states that Kolkata has a huge part to do with who he is. He says, “I feel privileged that I’m able to call both Houston and Kolkata home.” The artist has more singles he plans on releasing before the end of this year while simultaneously working on a four-track EP he wants to put out in 2021. “I’m really excited about this one because all the songs have some similar musical elements but tell very different stories,” he says.
Stream “Cross My Bridge” below:
