PESHAWAR: Young singer Zubair Nawaz has emerged as a popular vocalist by singing famous numbers of Afghan nationalist poet Malang Jan, whose poetic pieces are corresponded to the current social and political situation in the region.
He recently shot to popularity when he released a video ‘Soor Paizwan’ a romantic Pashto folk song penned down by Malang Jan on social media. The song was viewed and shared by around 80,000 music- buffs.
“I have broken record of all Pashto music charts so far on social media,” Mr Nawaz told this scribe. In a short span of eight years, he proved his mettle in Pashto music due to his command over tunes and confidence.
He said that traditional music and folk poetry could never die owing to its purity and soul soothing effect. So far he has released 15 Pashto audio and video albums and has also sung playback for a few Pashto movies.
Zubair Nawaz plans to conduct research on Pashto folk music
Mr Nawaz, a resident of Peshawar, said that his family lived in the US and planned a visit there to perform at a live musical concert. “I will show to the world through my music talent that Pakhtuns are peace-loving people and never support extremism. I did face family resistance but my parents stood with me because they understood that my objective was to spread peace through music,” he added.
Mr Nawaz said his Eid release ‘Warha Jeenai’ (little girl) would also register impact on the audience. He said that Warra Jeenai, a title song written by a young poetess based in Dera Ismail Khan, was in fact a flashback story where a woman was reminiscing her sweet childhood days.
“I have also planned to sing Rahman Baba numbers. ‘Nafsoona’ is another idea conceived by my mentor Karan Khan. It is a long poem by Malang Jan, a critical commentary on the plight of Pakhtuns,” he said.
Born with a flair for music, the singer drew inspiration from Haroon Bacha. Although his family didn’t have a background in music, yet his father followed his instinct and allowed him to pursue his objective. As a schoolchild, he used to walk up to the medicines store of his father and after qualifying 12th grade, he decided to opt for spiritual medicine -- music.
Soon he became the most sought after young artist and apart from performing at live concerts in Peshawar, Karachi, Islamabad; he performed in Dubai and Qatar. He has received invitation from private Afghan TV channels.
Mr Nawaz started his music career in his mid-teens and began receiving training from Ustad Buzarg; a Peshawar -based senior Afghan tabla player and music composer while Master Ali Haider and Ustad Shah Jahan also helped him to shine his talent.
He said that after graduation as a private candidate, he would conduct research on Pashto folk music and would seek a foreign scholarship to do doctorate thesis on role of Pashto folk music in shaping Pakhtun society.
“My forte is light ghazal but my folk songs cast a magical impact on people. I have picked up poetic pieces of Akbar Hoti, Rashid Khattak, Abaseen Yousafzai and Mumtaz Orakzai for my next projects in December this year but I am confident my Eid release will also earn a good name,” said Mr Nawaz.
Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2018