ISLAMABAD: The second day of the Music Mela 2016 saw some schedule changes: Noori and Sounds of Kolachi were not able to perform due to the inclement weather on day one and took their place on the stage Friday night.

Friday was a full day for music lovers in Islamabad as the organisers of the mela had arranged a ‘Song Writing Workshop’, an ‘Introduction to Folk Music of Pakistan’, a session on the ‘Basics of Audio Production’ and a discussion titled, ‘Final Push on Artist Royalties’.

In the ‘Song Writing Workshop’, Ali Hamza, Ali Noor and Arieb Azhar discussed the elements and process of writing songs. Ali Noor said: “Live music has to be full of ingredients or else it won’t be profound to the listeners.”

The workshop on ‘Introduction to Folk Music of Pakistan’ brought together wonderfully talented folk artists while the session on audio production was conducted by Sarmad Ghafoor who shared technical but informative points while sharing different sounds to teach the difference between high and low pitch.

In a particularly useful session for aspiring musicians, music industry veteran Haroon Rashid, Umer Sheikh of COMP, Zeeshan Chaudhry of EMI, Meesaq Arif of IPO, Kamaluddin Tipu, former Pemra chairman; and Arieb Azhar explained the final process of establishing a system for artist royalty collection in Pakistan.

The evening performances began with the incredibly sweet sounds of ‘Wind & Percussion Roots’ featuring Zulfiqar Faqir on dambooro and boreendo and ‘Anb Jogi’ providing the beat with the dholak.

Reshma’s granddaughter Gulshan Jahan set the tone with semi-classical folk pieces. Beginning with ‘vird karaan bethi’ and ‘Allah Hu’, she had the audience swaying to her devotional songs.

The young group ‘Richie & the Leo Twins’ subsequently demonstrated their versatile music skills with an energetic performance.

With Richie insisting that he wanted to “see hand banging”, the rousing ‘We Will, We Will Rock You’ had the audience on its feet, rocking.

The second number was their original, ‘Mein Hoon’, a complete shift in mood followed by an instrumental number by the Leo Twins.

Another band of young performers, ‘Blackhour’ engaged the audience with their niche blend of metal with an innovative theatrical aspect to it.

The few people who remained sitting through the music, jumped up for the dramatic movements.

Abdullah Qureshi, the versatile and innovative young musician, sang his signature singles, followed by the ‘Fakhr-e-Punjab Band’, with its ensemble of brass band instruments.

Originating from Faisalabad, the ensemble was founded and led by maestro Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan, who has over 65 years’ experience of playing the clarinet.

Arieb Azhar’s eclectic mix of urban and folk music found expression in Sufi poetic pieces complimented by Ustad Akmal Qadri’s masterful flute, Kashif Ali Dani’s exceptional tabla and Zeeshan Mansoor’s and Zain Ali’s creative guitar soundscapes.

A fusion performance witnessed Polish musicians Karolina Cicha and Bart Palyga connecting with Anb Jogi from Sindh, Jaan Ali Khan from Punjab and Haroon Leo from Islamabad, followed by Javed Bashir, one of the most highly acclaimed vocalists of Pakistan. Yasir Dil observed, “From Punjab to Poland, music has no borders at the Music Mela.”

The finale of the day was a fabulous performance by ‘Grupo Fantasma’, a nine-piece musical collective from Texas which performed vibrant Latin music.

Nida Tareen said: “Events like this are a breath of fresh air. They provide a much needed opportunity for the entire population of the city to celebrate and rejoice in music – the one thing that unites us all in times of stress.”

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2016