Debashish Bhattacharya

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Debashish Bhattacharya (born 12 January 1963 in Calcutta) is an Indian musician, renowned for his compositions on slide guitar. His technical prowess with the slide allows him to play complex passages at blistering speeds.

Born into a musical family, it became apparent that he was exceptionally skilled at a young age. His parents, both traditional Indian vocalists, gave him a basic understanding of music from his birth, and he first began strumming a guitar at age three, when his father gave him a full-size Hawaiian lap steel guitar. He made his debut at the age of four on All India Radio, in Calcutta.

At the age of nine, he left his parents for ten years to study under the pioneer of Indian slide-guitar Pandit Brij Bhushan Kabra. At age twenty, he was awarded the President of India Award for winning the National Music competition of All India Radio.

His originality as a musician has earned him global admiration, and he has performed on networks all over the world.

He invented his own slide-guitars, unique to his compositions, which he calls the "Trinity of Guitars". These hollow neck instruments are the the 24-string chaturangui, the 14 string gandharvi and the anandi, a 4-string lap steel ukulele. ^[1]

His most popular albums are: Mahima with Bob Brozman, and Calcutta Slide-Guitar, Vol. 3. Both of these albums are on Riverboat records and ranked in the top 10 of the Billboard World Music Charts.