KARACHI: It rarely happens these days that music lovers find themselves utterly immersed in the artistry of a performer as a result of which both the artist and the audience have a whale of a time yearning for more. It happened on Friday evening when Ustad Hamid Ali Khan entertained a large crowd of semi-classical and classical music buffs at the Arts Council of Pakistan for well more than two hours at an event titled Nashist-i-Khaas.

The ustad, sensing the attendees’ involvement, sang his heart out, although in the process he did put the tabla player to the test on a few occasions and the instrumentalist passed with flying colours.

The good thing that Ustad Hamid Ali Khan did was that most of the pieces that he presented were popular among his admirers. He began with a combo of compositions that signified his family’s (Patiala Gharana) style of singing with a fantastic display of gamak, but most of his performances were ghazals and geet that he and his late brother, the legendary Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, are famous for.

The first in that series was the Haider Ali Aatish ghazal, Ye aarzu thi tujhy gul ke rubaru kerte. It was followed by Guzar gaya jo zamana usey bhula hi do by Amjad Islam Amjad. The second was one of the early compositions that catapulted Hamid Ali Khan into national fame three decades back.

While people were thoroughly enjoying the concert, giving a resounding round of applause at the end of each tune, they were also sending their requests to him for certain popular tunes. Some wanted him to do Punjabi numbers. He obliged by singing a Punjabi song penned by Wasif Ali Wasif. It was nice to see that amidst all the musical goings-on he kept reminding everyone how great his brother Ustad Amanat Ali Khan was. One of the compositions that he presented in memory of the legend was the well-known Ada Jafri ghazal Honton pe kabhi un ke mera naam bhi a’ey.

Interestingly, the ustad then switched gears and sang Udas logon se pyar kerna koi to seekhe by Neelma Naheed Durrani. Keeping true to the content of the ghazal, the composition has a melancholic feel to it, and Hamid Ali Khan, despite the buzz in the air, performed it with the kind of poetic sadness that’s required for it. It was an extraordinary experience.

The climax of the show, arguably, came with Pyar nahin hai sur se jis ko. Indeed this was the kind of performance that makes one fall in love with the sur.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2023