State of Bengal

Saifullah (Sam) Zaman, recording as State Of Bengal (aka "SOB"), is a British DJ and producer associated with the Asian Underground movement.

Biography

Born in Pakistan, Sam grew up in Stepney, London [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artist/3xrg/ BBC profile for State Of Bengal] ] . Sam Zaman set up the State of Bengal group in London after a visit to Bangladesh, where he interacted with traditional musicians and dancers. Original members of the group included his brother Deedar Zaman (later associated with the Asian Dub Foundation), and MC Mustaq (lead rapper for Fun-Da-Mental). Outside of the State of Bengal project, Zaman also worked with British Asian youth groups, setting up music training workshops. [ [http://www.stateofbengal.com/bio.php Biography at SOB official site] ]

State of Bengal was a DJ at the influential Anokha club in London's East End during the mid-1990s. His tracks "Flight IC408" and "Chittagong Chill" - written and produced with Matt Mars - were featured on Talvin Singh's Anokha "Soundz of the Asian Underground" compilation, and helped him gain prominence. Singer Björk discovered his work at Anokha; she had him open for her her world tour, and remix her track "Hunter." In September 1997, she signed him onto the One Little Indian record label.

After Anokha, State of Bengal took up residency at the Off Centre club nights [ [http://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/1999/0617/beat.html FFWD Weekly: June 17th, 1999 ] ] . He produced his debut album "Visual Audio" toured solo and at several international festivals, and did extensive remix work.

After the release of "Visual Audio", State of Bengal worked on two significant projects with musicians from Bengal, collaborating with Indian sitar innovator Ananda Shankar, a long-time hero, on the 2000 album "Walking On" [ [http://www.realworldusa.com/albumpages/Walkingon/walkingalbum.htm Walking On] album] , and with Baul singer Paban Das Baul on the 2004 album "Tana Tani (Push & Pull)" [ [http://www.ethnotechno.com/sob_tana_tani.php Tani Tani] album] .2007 has seen State of bengal bring out his latest album, "Skip Ij." featuring a track written by the revolutionary poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, sung by British bengali artist Suzana Ansar

Partial discography

olo albums

* 2007 - "Skip-IJ" (Beetlenut Records)
* 2001 - "Visual Audio" (One Little Indian , virgin, six degrees usa)

Collaborations & contributions

* 2000 - Ananda Shankar Experience & State of Bengal, "Walking On" (2000) (Realworld Records)
* 2004 - State of Bengal vs. Paban Das Baul, "Tana Tani" (Realworld Records)

Compilations

* 1996 - Various artists, "Anokha: Soundz of the Asian Underground" (Omni/Island Records)

Remixes and other work

* Björk - "Hunter"
* Massive Attack - "Inertia Creeps"
* Jolly Mukherjee - "Fusebox"
* 1998 - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, "" (Realworld Records)
* 1999 - Cheb i Sabbah - "Shri durga"(Remix album) (Six Degrees Records)
* 2000 - Jolly Mukherjee - Fusebox (Remix album) (Palm Pictures)

References

External links

* [http://www.stateofbengal.com/ StateOfBengal.com] [http://www.betelnut-records.com/ Betelnut-Records.com]
* [http://www.ethnotechno.com/ints/int_stateofbengal_11.03.03.php Ethnotechno interview with State of Bengal]
* [http://asianvibrations.com/cgi-bin/getFeature.cgi?featureNum=22 AsianVibrations.com interview with State of Bengal]
* [http://www.sixdegreesrecords.com/artists.php?artist=State_of_Bengal About State Of Bengal] @ Six Degrees Records website (feat. a portrait photo).