After taking the stage with Ali Azmat and Shahi Hasan as part of Pepsi Battle of the Bands finale, Ahsan Bari has gone back to his experimental live music roots in sublime fashion.
After taking the stage with Ali Azmat and Shahi Hasan as part of Pepsi Battle of the Bands finale, Ahsan Bari has gone back to his experimental live music roots in sublime fashion.
Bari, who was associated with the recently concluded second season of Pepsi Battle of the Bands as music director, mentor and composer, led the The Southasia Ensemble from the front while taking the stage in the United Kingdom at the Weekender Festival in Birmingham just recently.
The South Asia Ensemble performed at the Midlands Arts Centre and were greeted by a full house. For this particular performance, The South Asia Ensemble collaborated with Hamza Akram Qawaal and Brothers, and the sound presented at the performance drew inspiration from qavvaali and was a merger of the old and the new.
‘It was fantastic! Amazing singers and instrumentalists, great collaboration with local musicians - two and half hour non-stop set!” noted one attendee.
“The artistic residency,” noted British Council in a post on Instagram, is supported by the British Council, and is collaboration between Sampad (UK) and Salt Arts (PK).”
For those who remain uninitiated, The Southasia Ensemble is co-curated by Salt Arts and Ahsan Bari Music and took origin in 2015. It is described by its creators as an “an ever evolving ensemble that celebrates Southasian sounds and our collective memory of music.”
