Ahmad Alam

Born in Bangladesh, Ahmad Mustafa Alam took a great interest in music from an early age. His parents, AZM Shamsul and Meherunnessa Alam always made sure he had plenty of exposure to the different genres of Bengali songs. Ahmad drew closer to Tagore even though he also sings Nazrul, Lalon and others. Ahmad is also passionate about the art form known as Ghazal so much so that he started writing as well as giving music to it. He also writes, composes and sings English songs.

Even before learning the harmonium, the instrument he uses as an accompaniment while singing, Ahmad took lessons on the Tabla. Later on he took Sitar lessons from the distinguished Ustad Abed Hossain Khan in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ahmad went on to learn several other instruments, including flute (both silver and bamboo), saxophone, violin and piano.

Side by side Ahmad also kept on sketching/drawing along with painting and doing photography. Initially he was fascinated with portraits but gradually developed a liking for landscapes as well. Poetry took over Ahmad after he went to live in Minnesota, USA, from where he got his masters in software engineering and still lives today. The distinct progression of the seasons and the gorgeous natural surroundings of this Midwestern state gave Ahmad ample inspirations.

After the horrors of September 11th, Ahmad decided to try his hand in writing a novel, which he finished recently and had it published by Xlibris. The book is called "Late Night Knocks" and it depicts the struggle of a Muslim woman after her husband was wrongfully detained.

Recently Ahmad got a grant from Minnesota State Arts board for which he finished recording an album of English songs addressing the importance of interfaith dialogue.

During the Corona pandemic in 2020, Ahmad had the opportunity of a lifetime to write a bunch of new songs in Bengali, Urdu and in English. He wrote quite a few songs in unusual rhythmic patterns like 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5, 9.5 and even 10.5 beat cycles. The extra time Ahmad was fortunate enough to gain during the lockdown also allowed him to play around with a stylus on an iPad screen. He ended up with paintings in that medium. Also he started a book of short stories depicting lives affected by the virus.

Running, bodybuilding and martial arts are some of Ahmad’s serious hobbies.
 

Ahmad would be thrilled in getting feedback and comments from viewers and wouldn’t spare any effort in getting back to them.