The Blast From The Past: Rupa's Disco Jazz
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In 2014, Debayan Sen stumbled upon a holy grail in his mother’s attic in Kolkata.
Adorned with a red-orange cover featuring his mother’s youthful image and her name, Rupa, boldly displayed, the discovery unveiled a hidden chapter of her life as a singer.
Debayan looked up the album online. The results astonished his family: Rupa’s debut album, “Disco Jazz,” released in 1982, was commanding high prices on platforms like Discogs.
Despite his mother’s initial dismissal of the record, Debayan felt compelled to preserve it, recognizing its significance as her creation.
Disco Jazz originated following a family trip to Canada, where Rupa’s talent shone during an impromptu performance at her brother’s home.
She also performed geets and ghazals at the University of Calgary’s Boris Roubakine Hall in 1981; interestingly in the presence of legendary musicians Aashish and Pranesh Khan.
Through connections with Rupa’s brother, the Khan brothers proposed collaborating on an album.
Initially unfamiliar with modern recording equipment, Rupa was handed a cordless mic in the studio, mistaking it for a prop.
Following its rediscovery, “Disco Jazz” was reissued in 2017 by Numero Group, a renowned archival label.
One of its tracks, “Aaj Shanibar,” began gaining traction through YouTube’s recommendation system, accumulating over 1.5 million views on the platform.
This resurgence of interest highlights the unpredictable journey of “lost” music finding a new audience, especially by its inclusion in playlists and DJ sets.
Aashish Khan, the album’s producer, infused elements of Western funk and Balearic beat into the traditional disco sound. This fusion and Rupa’s multilingual lyrics contributed to the album’s distinctiveness within the era’s music.
Despite initial challenges, including limited promotion from the record label, the album’s resurgence brought newfound recognition to Rupa.
In 2019, we had the pleasure of welcoming Rupa to our store in Mahim for an exclusive meet and greet with her devoted fans! It was a true honor for TRC to host Rupa and Disco Jazz in India.
Click Here To Read More
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Adorned with a red-orange cover featuring his mother’s youthful image and her name, Rupa, boldly displayed, the discovery unveiled a hidden chapter of her life as a singer.
Debayan looked up the album online. The results astonished his family: Rupa’s debut album, “Disco Jazz,” released in 1982, was commanding high prices on platforms like Discogs.
Despite his mother’s initial dismissal of the record, Debayan felt compelled to preserve it, recognizing its significance as her creation.
Disco Jazz originated following a family trip to Canada, where Rupa’s talent shone during an impromptu performance at her brother’s home.
She also performed geets and ghazals at the University of Calgary’s Boris Roubakine Hall in 1981; interestingly in the presence of legendary musicians Aashish and Pranesh Khan.
Through connections with Rupa’s brother, the Khan brothers proposed collaborating on an album.
Initially unfamiliar with modern recording equipment, Rupa was handed a cordless mic in the studio, mistaking it for a prop.
Following its rediscovery, “Disco Jazz” was reissued in 2017 by Numero Group, a renowned archival label.
One of its tracks, “Aaj Shanibar,” began gaining traction through YouTube’s recommendation system, accumulating over 1.5 million views on the platform.
This resurgence of interest highlights the unpredictable journey of “lost” music finding a new audience, especially by its inclusion in playlists and DJ sets.
Aashish Khan, the album’s producer, infused elements of Western funk and Balearic beat into the traditional disco sound. This fusion and Rupa’s multilingual lyrics contributed to the album’s distinctiveness within the era’s music.
Despite initial challenges, including limited promotion from the record label, the album’s resurgence brought newfound recognition to Rupa.
In 2019, we had the pleasure of welcoming Rupa to our store in Mahim for an exclusive meet and greet with her devoted fans! It was a true honor for TRC to host Rupa and Disco Jazz in India.
Click Here To Read More
The Ultimate Rebel Of Hindustani Classical Music
How We Almost Missed Out On Nusrat Sahab's Music
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