Farzana Salique ( bn, ফরজানা সালিক), better known as Shapla Salique, ( bn, শাপলা সালিক) is a Bangladeshi-born British singer-songwriter and

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

player.

Early life

Salique was born in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and grew up in Tajpur,

Osmani Nagar Osmani Nagar ( bn, ওসমানীনগর) is an upazila of Sylhet District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Etymology “Osmani Nagar” is a compound of two words, ''Osmani'' and ''nagar'' (city), which literally means “the city of ...

Sylhet District Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...

, where she would often go to watch her father, uncle and grandparents perform in functions. They were renowned folk singers in the

Sylhet region The 1947 Sylhet referendum was held in the Sylhet District of the Assam Province of British India to decide whether the district would remain in Undivided Assam and therefore within the post-independence Dominion of India, or leave Assam for E ...

. Her grandfather, Azfar Ali, was immensely into music and passed his interest onto the family. Her brother Uchchall plays the

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

. In February 1970, Salique's father, Abdus Salique (born 1952), came to the United Kingdom. In 1981, at the age of five, Salique came to the United Kingdom to join her father. She came with her mother, Hasna Salique, and two brothers, Uchchall (born 1973) and Shochall (born 1978). They settled in London's

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

, where Salique was bought up. Her father first worked as a waiter, then opened up a tailoring workshop before running a restaurant. Salique attended

Raine's Foundation School Raine's Foundation School was a Church of England voluntary aided school based on two sites in Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England. It was situated in the north of Bethnal Green, just to the east of ''Cambridge Heath ...

and has three

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

in music, English and arts. She enrolled at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

to pursue a degree in music and concentrated on her singing career.

Career

Early career

Since the age of three, Salique has been singing and performing. In 1985, she became the lead singer of the first British Bangladeshi musical group Dishari Shilpi Gosthi, a group founded by her father in 1979 and was based in

Shadwell Shadwell is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , east of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff (to the east). This riverside location has meant ...

, London. The group specialised in Sylheti folk songs and the work of

Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam ( bn, কাজী নজরুল ইসলাম, ; 24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengali poet, Bengali literature, writer, Bangladeshi music, musician, and is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul is regarded as one ...

. Salique fronted Dishari on numerous albums and television appearances, as well as performances in the UK and abroad throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including performing in front of royalty at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in aid of

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

. In 1996, Salique's first mainstream Bengali song "Ziola" was released in the UK with the music label Journeys by DJ. "Ziola" was remixed by

Judge Jules Julius O'Riordan (born 1966), better known by his stage name Judge Jules, is a British dance music DJ, record producer and entertainment lawyer. He is known for his DJ activities, music production and long-running radio show which achieved glob ...

for his album ''Dance Wars''. It was followed by two solo albums; ''Siyono na Siyona'' in 1997, a traditional folk oriented Bengali album, and in 2002, the Hindi pop album ''Lai Lai'', produced and composed by

Bappi Lahiri Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

. Salique has appeared on television programmes including, ''Eastern Eye'', ''Breaking Through'' and ''Flame in My Heart''.

2013–present

In January 2013, Salique performed at the

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as ‘the most beautiful theatre in Lon ...

. In February 2013, she was interviewed by Jumoke Fashola on

BBC London 94.9 BBC Radio London is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM frequency, DAB, Virgin Media channel 937, Sky channel 0152 (in the Lond ...

. In the same month, she performed at London's

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

and at the Houses of Parliament, organised by Oitij-jo. Salique is the singer, songwriter and harmonium player for her band, the other members include Alok Verma (tabla and percussion), Dion Palumbo (acoustic guitar), Mak Murtic (saxophone), Suroj Sureshbabu (electric and acoustic guitar), Sam Bailey (double bass), and

Jason Alder Jason Alder is an American-born clarinetist, bass clarinetist, and saxophonist. He is best known for his work in contemporary music, free improvisation, and electro-acoustic music. Biography Alder grew up in Westland, a suburb of Detroit, and ...

(saxophone). In March 2013, Salique performed at the

Rich Mix Cultural Foundation Rich Mix is a charity that offers cinema and cross-arts centre that is located in the East End of London, located in Shoreditch in the Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London, England. Once a vast leather factory, 62,000-square-foot building was t ...

in London alongside her band as part of BanglaFest. In June 2013, she performed at

Wilton's Music Hall Wilton's Music Hall is a Grade II* listed building in Shadwell, built as a music hall and now run as a multi-arts performance space in Graces Alley, off Cable Street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is one of very few surviving music ha ...

alongside her band In the same month, she performed at

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

. In November 2013, she performed at

The British Curry Awards The British Curry Awards is an annual awards dinner dedicated to the British curry industry. It was established in 2005 by Enam Ali and has continued to this day. Each individual award is split for geographic purposes — regional splits of Scotla ...

. Salique has also performed at venues including, Royal Albert Hall,

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ham ...

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

and

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

. She is also writing and recording for her new album which is due to be released in autumn 2015. Salique has been influenced by music from both East and West, she incorporates global mainstream music and poetic melodies and stories from her traditional heritage of her Bangladesh. She is known for her unique soulful voice and powerful vocals. Her musical arrangement is a fusion of Bengali folk, combined with jazz, pop, funk and soul. In April 2016 Salique's third album ''No Boundaries'' was released which launched at

, followed by a concert at the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

Discography

Albums

References

External links

* * *
Shapla Salique
on

Songkick Songkick is a concert discovery service owned by Warner Music Group. The service allows users to search for upcoming concert events in their area, and also track individual artists to receive notifications of upcoming shows in their area. It also p ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salique, Shapla 1975 births Living people British Muslims Bangladeshi emigrants to England 21st-century Bangladeshi women singers 21st-century Bangladeshi singers 20th-century Bangladeshi women singers 20th-century Bangladeshi singers Bengali-language singers Hindi-language singers Urdu-language singers Harmonium players Singers from London People from Osmani Nagar Upazila Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands People educated at Raine's Foundation School Alumni of the University of Leeds British women organists 21st-century British women singers