Between 1986 and 1991 I lived in Pakistan. One of my favorite
weekends was to drive up through the foothills of Azad Kashmir, where the
evening mountain light was pure and golden, to take photographs and soak up the
stunning landscapes. A town I often passed through had a narrow bazaar that had
to be approached by driving up a steep incline and navigating a hairpin bend,
The bazaar was known as Poonch, and it had a nice little restaurant with purple
glass windows and tables that overlooked the river and mustard fields below.
There was nothing, I thought, extraordinary about Poonch.
It wasn’t until very many years later that I learned that one of the
great maestro’s of the sitar, Ustad Mohammad Sharif Khan, had grown
up in the court of the Raja of Poonch
where his father was one of the court’s primary musical performers. As he grew to fame as a sitarist in the 1940s
and 50s, the appellation, Poonchwaley (the one from
Poonch) was added to his name. Suddenly,
and forever, this minor fiefdom in the mountains of Kashmir was immortalized.
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| Ustad Mohammad Sharif Poonchwaley |
In 1991, I left Pakistan and took up a job in the mountains of
Kurdistan. I worked in the far eastern part of the region but from time to time
travelled around. In mid summer I drove
westward to a town in the hills called Shaqlawa. This was at the time a sort of political
headquarters of one of the main Kurdish parties and we were there for a meeting
with a few of the party heavies. The
approach to Shaqlawa reminded me of that to Poonch: steep, narrow and
windy. In the mountains the air was
thinner and clearer just like in Kashmir.
Tonight’s selection brings these two towns and the countries and
regions in which they are located, together, with beauty and grace. Naseer
Shama is an oud player born and raised in Iraq. Half Kurdish, in addition to
mastering his instrument he has made it a point of his musical career to speak
out against the oppression and subjugation of his people. Resident in Baghdad
throughout much of the turmoil of recent years, he championed the cause of
children victims of American/European bombing in the early 1990s and has raised
money and awareness for the sanctions-crippled health system Iraqis have had
live with through most of the 1990s. He
has received many international music and humanitarian awards and currently
lives and teaches in Cairo.
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| Naseer Shamma |
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| Ashraf Sharif Khan |
Ashraf Sharif Khan is from Pakistan and is the son of that
country’s most revered sitarist, Ustad
Mohammad Sharif Khan Poonchwaley. Like
his Iraqi counterpart, Ashraf is
well regarded as a curious and adventerous musician. Now resident in Germany, Khan has collaborated with musicians from a number of genres
including jazz. This record, Viages de las Almas is an elegant
collaboration and fusion of Iraqi, Middle Eastern and South Asian, Pakistani
music. The album title means ‘travelling
souls’; its co-leaders are a Cairo-resident Iraqi virtuoso of the
fretless Arabic lute and a German-resident Pakistani master of the sitar.
Naseer Shamma provides the composed
notes, as well as playing the oud. Supported by tabla player Shabbaz Hussain,
Naseer Shamma and Ashraf Sharif Khan make beautiful new music.
The sitarist’s definition of good
‘fusion’ music: ‘the amalgamation of the two styles without compromising one
for the other, rather presenting the two in a new light.’ (ABC Australia)
The music, obviously, is what is great
about this record. The fusing of Middle
Eastern and Hindustani music is seamless and absolutely credible. The playing is of the highest quality and
full of soul. With several tracks
clocking in over 10 minutes long the musicians appear to have made the choice
to let each explore the music at an unhurried pace yet in a clearly reflective
way.
Fantastic and unique music.
Track
Listing:
1.
Viage de Las Almas (Traveling Souls)
2.
Al-Andalus Abre Sus Puertas (Al-Andalus Opens its Gates)
3.
El Camino a Shaqlawa (The Path to Shaqlawa)
4.
La Sibiuria de Mi Abuelo (My Grandfather’s Wisdom)
5.
Nostalgia de Cordoba (Nostalgia for Cordoba)
6.
Hammurabi
7.
Para Tunez (For Tunez)
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