Jaubi - A Sound Heart - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The core members of Jaubi are true masters of their craft, coming from a rich lineage of accomplished musicians. Kashif Ali Dhani is a classically trained tabla master from the Punjab gharana, and is the accompanist of choice on the local scene for some of Pakistan's great classical vocalists and instrumentalists, as well as in Europe and the USA. Zohaib Hassan Khan is a 7th generation sarangi master, who has performed globally, and is one of only 3 professional sarangi players left in Pakistan. Multi-instrumentalist, composer and Jaubi bandleader Ali Riaz Baqar aka Ila Zair began his musical journey as a hip-hop enthusiast, evolving into a jazz guitarist following the exposure to the genre's rich sampling culture. He then became a disciple of the Senia-Shahjahanpur gharana, a lineage of musicians specialising in the sarod. His playing now focuses on merging North Indian classical music with modern jazz harmony on a traditional, unaltered 6-string electric guitar. The collaborative relationship between the core group and wider collaborators dates back to April 2019, when 22a tag founder and multi-instrumentalist Tenderlonious and EABS/Bloto keyboard and synth maestro Marek 'Latarnik' Pedziwiatr travelled to Lahore, Pakistan to take part in some improvised recording sessions with Jaubi. Nothing whatsoever was written down during the recording sessions - no sheet music, no song titles. It was sincere, bottled lightning. All egos were left behind, with hearts and souls being opened and poured into the music. The result has been described as spiritual jazz-fusion meets psychedelic Hindustani classical with nods to golden era hip hop. An adventurous and absorbing record 'A Sound Heart' is the next chapter for Jaubi, both sonically and spiritually. The title is inspired from a verse in the Holy Qu'ran (26 89), where one comes to God with a spiritual or sound heart (Qalb) wh