Phoren jamaibabu belts country numbers

one feels so proud when a phoren jamaibabu comes home. james durst, the california born country singer, has a kolkata connection of the heart. his wife madhumita is a kolkatar meye. as a ritual, they visit the city every two years to meet family and friends. like all other visits, this time round too, the american center didn't miss the chance to organise an evening of country songs. on tuesday, the lincoln room of the american centre reverberated with those good old country tunes. though a singer songwriter himself, durst also sang a couple of cover versions like wife by us country singer tom paxton, cricket and rosy by the vietnamese singer pham duy. his version of el condor pasa was different from the one that we are used to as a paul simon version. i heard this version from a bolivian country singer, was durst's explanation. no political or geographical boundaries here, thank you. his songs what if, cycle song of life, and star light star bright were cheered by the 60-odd audience that were present on the rainy evening. young mom biswas found his voice similar to neil diamond's. quite a compliment that.