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Musicbox
Enchanting moments
Saturday evening came as a refreshing change for the ever-busy Lahorites with Stolen Moments, an exclusive and unique event featuring a mesmerizing performance by a troupe from Azerbaijan featuring Jeyhun, a maestro violinist assisted by Leyla, a singer as well as a ballet dancer and two musicians on keyboard and drums. The show was initially scheduled for last November, but was postponed due to the disastrous consequences of the October 8 quake.
Prior to this evening, the troupe had already performed in Karachi and Islamabad, as well as the honour of performing at the Presidency in Islamabad.
The event, which duly started on time, was preceded by a sumptuous reception providing the guests an opportunity to socialize. The show was opened by Sufia Shahid who paid glowing tribute to the artistes.
The performance comprised over an hour of uninterrupted, over-powering music undoubtedly overshadowed by Jeyhun, who stole the show with his engaging violin play, demonstrating complete mastery over the instrument. With artful strokes, he effortlessly carried the audience with him through different moods, caressing one beguiling melody after the other, descending deeper into his fascinating world with every tune. Just within five years after graduating from Azerbaijan State Conservatory and honoured with a teaching place in the esteemed Sumqait Musical College, Jeyhun has been declared the best violinist-cum-musician in the world for 2004 and 2005.
Leyla, the female singer, is a graduate from the Baku Music Academy with an outstanding Masters degree in music and dancing. In her husky voice, she proved her versatility and enthralled the audience with a number of lilting melodies aptly complemented by her graceful movements.
The drummer’s performance followed next, where he demonstrated his dexterity at simultaneously playing two drums, a highly entertaining effort that duly received earnest applause. Finally, Jeyhun acknowledged the efforts of the organizers as well the appreciative audience in his native language, which was translated by one Afshan Arif. Stolen Moments held at the Marquee of Pearl Continental Hotel was one more proof of the fact that music is a universal language and needs no translators or mediators for it to be relayed, acknowledged or appreciated.—Maliha Mansoor
Soul musicJust when one thought that music has been demoted from the status of an art into a distorted money-making medium, the Pakistani music industry was fortunate enough to experience the Mekaal Hasan Band. In an unbelievably short period of time, these musicians have proved themselves at staging breathtaking live performances and churning out sensible original music.
It came as a pleasant piece of news that MHB would perform at Karachi on a Saturday night under a joint collaboration of The Citizens Foundation (TCF), BMA Capital and Sampurna, to raise funds for quake victims. No doubt, the cause is well worth all the support, but one couldn’t help but wonder about the tiny collection box outside the venue gate and no mention of any ticket money on the passes.
At the venue, one found the Mekaal Hasan Band rocking the crowds with an electrifying performance of Sanwal. Kudos to the sound engineers for using compression techniques on selected instruments, effectively creating a mind-blowing audio experience.
Mekaal’s characteristic smooth progressive tone gave the perfect transition to Sajan supported on the flute by Mohammad Ahsan Papu and bordering hypnotically on an undeniable melodic intelligence. Noteworthy here was Farhan Albert’s keyboard play, providing the precise ambience of chords for the band to play within.
The MHB played one of their latest singles, Kirvani, followed by Darbari, demonstrating promising vocal talents by Javed Bashir. Josh Rangher had the crowds resonating to the tune while an extended version of Raba was performed next, with Mekaal’s live improvizations, intense instrumentals and mellow supporting music. During concert, the audience were introduced to the latest addition to the band, Adnan Sarwar on rhythm guitars, who fell short on making a strong impression, perhaps due to his discretely-placed play as-per-instructions.
The song Hans Dum proved to be a feather to bass guitarist Sameer Ahmed’s cap, who pulled some outstanding back-up strings, amplified further via the supporting compressor system. Waris Shah was next with its characteristic mild chords and serene progression, followed by Sampooran — seven note scale in eastern classical music — the title track of their debut album.
The evening concluded with Ya Ali, clearly the best song of the lot. Fahd Khan staged a very interesting drum play, keeping the crowds moving to the beat. Perhaps the only downside of the concert was the band’s scanty improvisational performance, most of which was concentrated towards the very end. The event would have been flawless, had it attempted to move away from sounding like a complete CD gig. MHB’s instrumental solos, however, won over the younger crowd hands down, and while the audience clearly wanted more, the band decided to call it a night.—Sharaf Qaisar
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