Bassbaba announces “Soul Food”

Renowned Bangladeshi rock bassist Saidus Salehin Khaled Sumon – known better among his fans by his stage name Bassbaba -- has announced his first bass solo album, to be out next month. The album, titled “Soul Food – Part 1”, has been in the pipeline for a while. 

Sumon made the announcement on his Facebook page on Wednesday, adding that he will have a number of international collaborators featured in the album, namely Robert Bubby Lewis, Felix Pastorius, Josh Cohen, Bob Franceschini, Mark Don and JD Blair.

Sumon, the bassist and front-man of seasoned rock act Aurthohin and considered by many as one of the best bass players of this part of the world, has looked in recent years to break away from the mold. For the last few years, he has been a regular at the NAMM Show in California, USA, heralded 'the biggest trade-only event for the music products' and a gathering of some of the world's top musicians, where he has been seen rubbing shoulders with the likes of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Victor Wooten, to name a few. His other work has also been off-beat, be it with fingerstyle guitarist Mahaan Fahim, or a 360-degree YouTube video for a new song for Aurthohin, titled “Chaite Paro – You Have to Bujhte Hobe”.

Sumon, who has been in the music industry for two and a half decades, is credited as one of the key musicians who helped in the development of the Bangladeshi underground rock music scene. Early in his career he played with bands like Feelings and Warfaze, before forming Aurthohin in 1998. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2011, and has undergone 12 surgeries in five years. The latest album of Aurthohin, titled “Cancer-er Nishikabbyo”, was released on international platforms earlier this month.