British and local musicians perform in the fusion music concert on Tuesday at Rabindra Sarobar. — Ali Hossain Mintu

Fusion music presented by local and British musicians moved a huge crowd in an open-air concert at Rabindra Sarobar in Dhanmondi on Tuesday.
They fused instruments and songs from different corners of the world with the traditional music of the country. 
Four acclaimed British musicians- Sam Lee on vocal and mouth-harp, Francesca Ter-berg on cello, Jonah Brody on traditional Japanese instrument koto and Camilotomas Tirado on percussions- performed with the songs by Lalon, Hason Raja and other collected folk songs. Ten local vocalists and instrumentalists including Arnob, Rab Fakir and others performed at the programme.
The fusion music show was an output of a three-day workshop titled ‘Folk Nations’ organised by the British Council as part of its cultural exchange and collaboration programme.
The show began with the rendition of a 400-year-old ‘Red-Indian’ folk song featuring narrative of a patriot presented by Sam Lee, a folk music researcher and collector.
Talented local musicians like Arko Suman and Arnab picked up the tone of the western song and presented the bravery of the legendary Khudiram, who revolted against the British colonialism it, through the fusion on popular Bangla song Ekbar biday de maa.
Suman lent vocal in the song and Arnab played esraj for the first time in an open air concert, though he plays the string instrument in his audio album. 
The British musicians also played cello, percussion, bass and drums with the locals.
The second performance of the evening was a Scottish lullaby presented by Sam Lee accompanied by Jonah Body on koto and Rab Fakir on dotara. The piece ended with a mesmerising flute solo by Jalal Ahmed.  
Arnab, an expert of fusion music, presented a popular Tagore song Anandadhara bahichhe bhubane with the interesting instrumental line-up. But, it was not well appreciated by the crowd.
Arko Suman’s rendition of the rhythmic mystic song Hiraman pakhi brought back the vibration at the show. Subsequently, Rab Fakir enchanted the audience by singing a Lalon song Kabe sadhur charandhuli. Jonah did a brilliant job playing koto in the song and gained repeated applauses from the audience.
Labik Kamal Gourab also delighted the audience by presenting Lalon song Tomar doya bine guru and a collected folk song Loha re banaila kancha sona accompanied by beautiful instrumental works by the skilled musicians. It will be a show to remember.