Ustaad Naseeruddin Saami, I have been told, doesn’t perform as much anymore. Given that, the recent Salt Arts show in Karachi (their 50th production to be precise) featuring the legendary man himself alongside the underrated qawwal group, Saami and Sons, was nothing short of marvelous. It was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of surprise.
Held at the Beach Luxury Hotel last weekend, the Jasmine Hall played host on this night and had been transformed keeping both the audience and the artist in mind.
Upon entrance inside the room, one saw fairy lights on the pillars, white sheets on the floor backed by long pillows (gao takia) throughout the room. There was plenty of space and some chairs for the elderly members of the audience who couldn’t sit on the floor. And on either end of the stage, a screen was up with a bonfire or what seemed like a bonfire. Persistent, pertinent and safe, since it was digital.
Getting past the set-up, there were the people, nearly 400 in total by the end of the night and they came from all age groups. There were academics and elderly people who knew exactly what they were walking into and the young who were mesmerized by what was happening onstage.
Among familiar faces, one counted actor-director Adnan Malik, Ayla Raza, Imkaan Welfare’s Tahera Hasan, Nadir Toosy, Nofil Naqvi, Ahsan Bari and Quaid Ahmed from Sounds of Kolachi, Sarwat Gilani and Fahad Mirza.
The night began, first with an introduction by Salt Arts co-founder and chairperson Junaid Iqbal, who spoke on stage about hitting the landmark of 50 shows, with 48 held in the city of Karachi. "In two and a half years, we have had the opportunity to work with over 100 artists and have presented a range of productions across all musical genres in Karachi and the UK. The most beautiful thing about these shows is our loyal and engaged audience that listens, appreciates and is resilient."
He then made way for Zeb Bangash, who is a disciple of Naseeruddin Saami and on this night was more concerned about Saami sahib than being a celebrity-star, which to be fair has never been Zeb’s thing even though she is one.
Began Zeb, "It is nothing short of a great honour for me to present my Ustaad, Naseeruddin Saami (who we all refer to as Jaan) -- the only practitioner in the world today singing authentic Khayal, that is employing all its 49 microtones. Having been under his tutelage for five years now, I have come to realise that Jaan is not simply a maestro of his art form, but an institution in himself, the ‘source’ of an ancient classical music form -- created by his forefathers with Amir Khusro, eight centuries ago -- called Khayal. His teachings, his practice and his presence in my life has had a profound and transformative effect on me both musically and personally. I respect and adore him in equal measure."
As for Saami sahib, who was joined by his sons on stage, he began by presenting hamd, naat and manqabat in raagdaari sangeet (music based on raag, the melodic framework). In between, he also spoke to the audience, reeling them in just by being himself. No gimmick, no theatrics.
Watching him live, you can feel the divine, and you realize the power of his voice, how moving it can be and how such nights are ethereal. It can be a religious experience if you want it to be because Saami sahib is asking you for nothing in return. And yet, you feel you’re in the presence of something miraculous. It was a form of meditation, transcending and reminding you to be tolerant in a strange, strange world.
It has been years since I had the great privilege to witness him on the occasion of All Pakistan Music Conference in Karachi and though the years have passed, the respect he commands is earned. He went on to appear on Coke Studio in its fourth season, and during that particular performance, he had so many of us glued to the screen.
The Saami Sons, presenting qawwali also held their own with great skill and heart including popular presentations such as ‘Man Kunto Maula’ and ‘Mast Qalandar’. The night concluded with a traditional night Rang, with the audience standing in respect.
Junaid Iqbal, co-founder Salt Arts speaking to Instep on the sidelines of this beautiful event noted, "Karachi has gone through so much, and music and sports are the quickest ways of healing a nation. The security situation will improve and entertainment must comeback but quality entertainment does not exist and we need to do something about it. With this whole digital space, the entire livelihood of artists who used to depend on album sales has evaporated so, if we don’t do something and provide a platform for artists to get engaged and audience to develop again, this thing will die. The idea (for Salt Arts) evolved and as we spoke, you know Raania is a magician at this, she came up with the name and what our ethos will be but with a clear overriding focus on audience development."
Sara Nisar (Manager Arts and Production at Salt Arts) described the process of putting this particular show together. "This is our 50th production and we went all out. We wanted to do qawwali because it’s something we never experimented much with before but we spoke to Ustaad Naseeruddin Saami sahib and asked him.
He started talking about qawwali and its classical form, its evolution and we thought it would be interesting to tell people what the history behind qawwali is. Our entire campaign (for this production) has followed those lines; he’s spoken about what the word qawwal means, the history of Amir Khusro, where it has come from and where qawwali stands right now. Saami sahib doesn’t perform much anymore but this is a major performance where he is doing hamd and Khayal."