great-grandfather Rajanikanto was one of India's greatest songwriters and his
uncle Dilip Roy is a popular singing star and constant influence. He began to
play and learn Indian music from the age of six from noted Tabla master
Bidyut Banerjee.
Eventually, Broto traveled to America joining up with guitarist Sanjay Mishra.
In 1998 Broto started performing at festivals with his own group finally being
able to present his own compositions on the debut album American Raga,
which many musicians claim as an important influence. Space tourist Dennis
Tito played Broto's American Raga in May, 2001 aboard the International
Space Station. After three more years with tours across the world, Broto
released the recording, Total Immersion-Live at the Kennedy Center.
The summer of 2001 saw a flurry of activity. Broto toured his own trio in
support of American Raga. His band linked subtle Indian rhythms and Indian
singing with elements of modern jazz and rock. The band was expanded to a
quartet and touring extended to include a US coast-to-coast tour and 20-plus
European shows. In between a schedule of group performances he has
appeared at a number of prestigious solo percussion recitals and guest
performances on CDs by Sitarists Krishna Bhatt and Subrata Roy Chowdhuri,
Sarodist Aashish Khan, guitarists Paul Bollenback, Sanjay Mishra, Joey
DeFrancesco-organ, Ron Holloway-sax, Grateful Dead member Bob Weir in
April and others. Broto has been awarded grants from the National
Endowment for the Arts and was nominated twice for the Wammie awards.
After appearing in America, Europe, and India with his own fusion based
Broto Roy Ensemble and with major classical Indian musicians Roy has learned
to accompany Noor on the tabla and tar and continues exploring new rhythmic
embellishments and ideas to meet the demands of traditional Afghan music.
"Additionally, Broto Roy teaches tabla performance and Indian music theory in
the Washington DC metropolitan area". Broto Roy accompanied Noor
Wodjouatt, being the first Afghan performer at the Kennedy Center’s
Millennium Stage and U.S. Department of State. They have also performed for
the Washington Folk Festival.
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