It was a pleasure to listen to two bands from Pakistan at the Kennedy-Center in Washington, DC on Tuesday, 19th June 2012. It was a free event and lasted only an hour, with each band playing for half an hour.
Arieb Azhar and his band's performance has a raw feel to it; they were deeply moving with their Sufi and humanist songs. Noori's performance with their own songs and some from the Sufi tradition, was more glitzy and they were well-versed in getting the crowd to sing with them. People clapped spontaneously to Arieb Azhar's songs, while Noori encouraged and succeeded in getting the crowd to join them. The crowd at the Kennedy Center was decent sized- I would hazard a guess of 300. People in DC dress formally, and a lot of people in the crowd were dressed formally- both the men and the women. There was also a sprinkling of children in the audience. About two-third of the audience were people from the sub-continent and there were some who were dressed in traditional clothes- some of the men had beautiful Kurta's-which matched the elegant Kurta's worn by the performers on stage. I joined in the shouts of "one more" at the end of the show- but had to make do with the hour long fare. I wish I could go to a full concert by these bands as they tour the USA over the next few months.
The songs the bands sung have a timeless essence to them- and express the desire to love another person- irrespective of the fact as to whether they worship in a mandir or a masjid. The opening songs from both the bands would not have been out of place at a concert that would call for a pan-subcontinent union like the European Union. I regret that I do not have a good vocabulary in Urdu and Persian words, and thus could not follow all the words- but was able to understand most of the words by context. Some day, I need to explore the humanist and Sufi tradition from the sub-continent deeply.
On stage, Arieb Azhar mentioned about the Sufi poet Bulleh Shah (1680–1757), who was a Sufi mystic poet and philosopher, and how Bulleh Shah used to mock the religious orthodoxy in his day, and even wear women's clothes to defy societal norms.
On the net, I read a story about Bulleh Shah. His spiritual teacher refused to meet him because Shah had refused to honour a disciple of the master in simple clothes at a family wedding. His master was attend a ceremony at a tomb honouring his predecessor, and women would be singing and dancing to devotional hymns there as a part of the ceremony. Shah learnt and practiced dancing in women's clothes for weeks. At the ceremony, Shah danced non-stop and begged to be forgiven for his pride. Bulleh Shah was forgiven and could return to the fold of his master.
Arieb Azhar himself has a fascinating biography. From his website, http://www.ariebazhar.com/php/biography.php :-
Arieb Azhar and his band's performance has a raw feel to it; they were deeply moving with their Sufi and humanist songs. Noori's performance with their own songs and some from the Sufi tradition, was more glitzy and they were well-versed in getting the crowd to sing with them. People clapped spontaneously to Arieb Azhar's songs, while Noori encouraged and succeeded in getting the crowd to join them. The crowd at the Kennedy Center was decent sized- I would hazard a guess of 300. People in DC dress formally, and a lot of people in the crowd were dressed formally- both the men and the women. There was also a sprinkling of children in the audience. About two-third of the audience were people from the sub-continent and there were some who were dressed in traditional clothes- some of the men had beautiful Kurta's-which matched the elegant Kurta's worn by the performers on stage. I joined in the shouts of "one more" at the end of the show- but had to make do with the hour long fare. I wish I could go to a full concert by these bands as they tour the USA over the next few months.
The songs the bands sung have a timeless essence to them- and express the desire to love another person- irrespective of the fact as to whether they worship in a mandir or a masjid. The opening songs from both the bands would not have been out of place at a concert that would call for a pan-subcontinent union like the European Union. I regret that I do not have a good vocabulary in Urdu and Persian words, and thus could not follow all the words- but was able to understand most of the words by context. Some day, I need to explore the humanist and Sufi tradition from the sub-continent deeply.
On stage, Arieb Azhar mentioned about the Sufi poet Bulleh Shah (1680–1757), who was a Sufi mystic poet and philosopher, and how Bulleh Shah used to mock the religious orthodoxy in his day, and even wear women's clothes to defy societal norms.
On the net, I read a story about Bulleh Shah. His spiritual teacher refused to meet him because Shah had refused to honour a disciple of the master in simple clothes at a family wedding. His master was attend a ceremony at a tomb honouring his predecessor, and women would be singing and dancing to devotional hymns there as a part of the ceremony. Shah learnt and practiced dancing in women's clothes for weeks. At the ceremony, Shah danced non-stop and begged to be forgiven for his pride. Bulleh Shah was forgiven and could return to the fold of his master.
Arieb Azhar himself has a fascinating biography. From his website, http://www.ariebazhar.com/php/biography.php :-
" Arieb's musical journey started as a child when he discovered that when he expressed himself vocally, people would pay attention. Because both his parents were involved in television and theatre he was exposed at an early age to different musical expressions. According to him the early folk and classical music he listened to influenced his later love for traditional music. He picked up the guitar in his teens as a simple acoustic accompaniment for his voice. During this period of his life he was greatly influenced by the humanist poetry of Faiz and Sheikh Ayaz, and by the humanist and revolutionary music and poetry of Latin America, and he often performed and sang for left wing student functions and political rallies in Karachi and interior Sindh.
At the age of 19 he went off to Croatia, just as it was breaking away from Yugoslavia, and spent the next 13 years of his life there. In the city of Zagreb, Arieb was exposed to Balkan and gypsy music and his musical discoveries led him to perform on the streets, in pubs and clubs, concert halls, and festivals, with musicians from Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Bolivia and Ireland. He was one of the founders of the band "Shamrock Rovers" with whom he recorded two albums of a unique interpretation of Celtic music.
Finally in 2004 he returned to Pakistan in order to immerse himself in the local music. According to him, "I felt I needed to reconnect with my roots in order to continue my musical journey. In spite of (or perhaps because of!) social repression of all kinds, the street schooling that artists go through in Pakistan is very intense, and only the most dedicated artists can survive. Here one is forced to be highly self-critical and brutally honest about oneself. And those who survive this process become great musicians!"
Always nurturing a love for poets of the Sufi and humanist tradition, Arieb has now found an expression that he can proudly call his own. He recorded an album with IC records in Karachi, by the name of Wajj, which includes the immortal lyrics of Bhulleh Shah, Khwaja Ghulam Farid, and Mian Mohammad Baksh, as well as more contemporary lyrics by Sarmad Sehbai. The last track on the album is a Bosnian folk song also recorded with a rich orchestrated sound that uses both traditional and modern elements."
Noori Website: http://nooriworld.net/
It reads and looks to be, (even without any audio), a lovely and memorable cross cultural high style event that I would have much enjoyed attending. This passage also stands out for being quite dense and academic in nature. On that note, trying to successfully decifer and enter the skewed text in order to "publish" one's comments is a process requiring similar fortitude.
ReplyDeleteI do think you would have enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate your perseverence in trying to post on our blog. You are one of the few friends that has managed to do so. Others have mentioned they would like to comment, but have not braved the barriers.