Ethnic jazz comes to life as Kolachi Quartet set Karachi on fire! Abbas Premjee, Gumby, Emu and Khalid Khan headline the event and introduce Zara Madani and Irfan Haider to serious music listeners.

Maheen Sabeeh, Karachi

Karachi may not necessarily be known for the superstar pop idols it produces. But rather for its music stations that links accomplished players together. Whether its The Munchkins, a cover band consisting of Gumby, Ali Jafri and others who performed at Dunkin’ Donuts or those one-off acoustic performance at The Second Floor (T2F) and now recently something like the Kolachi Quartet who performed at the PACC this last weekend.

When the mood is right and musicians align - and in this case star musicians - it is incredible.

One says star musicians because the legend of Abbas Premjee (virtuoso classical guitarist), Gumby (Pakistan’s most talented drummer, Emu (keyboardist and composer for Fuzon) and Khalid Khan (bass player for Aaroh) - who form Kolachi Quartet - collectively is enough to draw out people who themselves fill our starry stratosphere.

Photographer Amean J, VJ/models Anisa Sheikh, Sanam Saeed, Sanam Agha, Ayesha Omer and Faisal Shah, music producer Faisal Rafi, record label CEO Akbar Yezdani, musicians Omran Shafique, Shallum Xavier, Rameez Mukhtar, Omar Bilal Akhtar and Yasir Qureshi from Aunty Disco Project, TV host/comic Sami Shah, fashion icon Tanya Shafi and designer Munib Nawaz - all showed up.

The rest of course, were people who were fans of mature live music. At the current moment, there aren’t many young fans or so it seemed since the crowd mostly comprised of the older generation.

Four-man show

Introducing the musical night, Abbas Premjee defined the sound as ‘contemporary Western jazz with ethnic folk’. And it was, in many ways, just that.

A melting pot, with elements of traditional folk harmonies - driven from Premjee’s fascination with the classical form of music (it’s what they’re increasingly fascinated with these days, be it Rohail Hyatt, Shahi Hasan, Faisal Rafi or even Mekaal Hasan). Abbas’ take on our classical and folk heritage was a jazz-like improvisation, keyboards and drum and bass grooves, the entire set was a convergence of genres and styles. Platforms like these give stars a chance to play music for the sheer joy of it, not bothering about any commercial requirement. Abbas, Gumby. Emu and Khalid were tremendously in sync and they were obviously having a ball.

Most compositions belonged to Premjee who isn’t seen enough in the public eye but in his studio dabbles in various sounds. To his reputation, the man has some aces up his sleeves. The compositions were electric and tipsy, funky at times, somber and haunted at others, blue and hypnotic but they worked despite being instrumentals. Mostly because of the four men who not only know their own instruments so well but understand the language of each other.

Each man had his expertise. Abbas Premjee is an excellent guitar player. And not because he can do those 20-minute long solos that one sees at concerts one too many times. Abbas is exquisite because he does those intricate bits, the slow strumming of the strings so well, which gel well with the rest of the sound.

Meanwhile Emu and Khalid Khan, the subtle backbone of such a sound delivered some funky grooves. In fact, it was for the first time one saw Khalid Khan losing himself to his bass with that phantom stringing of the bass. It was fantastic and one wonders why the average rock concert doesn’t allow the space for solos like these!

And if there was one man it was hard to keep eyes off, it was Gumby. Often one sees him playing those fast, hardcore tunes such as the recent Ali Azmat hit ‘Gallan’ but there is so much more to him as a player. And with Kolachi Quartet, that graceful side of him shone through. At one point, Gumby was playing the drums with his bare hands and it was just mesmerizing.

This musical four-man show also proved something crucially important to a live act: giving each other space. In concerts, one often encounters a guitarist diving into one, unnecessary solo after another, which kills a song. Here, the solos came for everyone and yet they didn’t go to the point that one got bored.

Presenting two new magical voices: Zara Madani and Irfan Haider

Amidst the many beautiful instrumentals were vocal-based performances. But unlike usual shows where a vocalist runs the show as the star, it was the exact opposite. Kolachi Quartet’s men were the bigger stars and they provided singers Zara Madani and Irfan Haider with a platform.

Zara is the girl who one first heard on the Khuda Kay Liye OST. But the full-throttle of her vocals were heard when she came onstage. She sang two tunes - ‘Neel Kamal’, the age-old raag that is forever been a part of our classical music and ‘Lekin’. It has to be said that she really has a beautiful voice. It’s soft, soothing and unlike any female voice in the local music scene, it’s vulnerable.

The only disappointing bit was the fact that the music overpowered her vocals. Perhaps the level of the mic should’ve been increased or the music been slightly subdued to allow her to shine through. Zara is a singer to watch out for. She is lovely to look at, has an enchanting voice that can strike the right notes. A beautiful classical singer would be so welcome on the Pakistani music scene that has progressed enough for the audience to accept Zeb and Haniya; their album is doing far better than expected.

And if the concept of two Pathan girls coming out and translating jazz and blues so beautifully into the Urdu idiom was groundbreaking, then there is more musical talent Pakistan has to offer from the most unlikely parts of the country. Irfan Haider, a man from Multan who made his stage debut with Kolachi Quartet. He blew people away when he sang ‘Mahiya’ a song from Abbas Premjee’s upcoming album Elements.

Speaking with Instep Today after the show, Premjee revealed, “Irfan is from Multan. I was learning about classical music from him and he is essentially a tabla player. Then I heard him sing one day and pushed him to sing.”

Irfan may well be a tabla player but the man has a deep (in a good way) voice and a pitch that more than matched and held its own against the music. For someone who sang in front of a live audience for the first time, it was one hell of a debut.

What should’ve been…

From the new voices to the musical masters that form Kolachi Quartet, it was a perfect gig out.

But the ambience was all wrong. The fact that Kolachi Quartet did this event without a sponsor backing them, by themselves, is commendable. We need more proactive musicians such as these four fine gentlemen.

But PACC with its stuffy seating and restricted lighting is just not a venue for this kind of music..

Place like the now-defunct Café Blue and Mlive would be far more appropriate. Their lounge seating and chilled out ambience always made musical nights so much more comfortable. But then the lack of venues has been a sore subject with the music industry for years.

In the end, one can only hope that such performances, even if at a stuffy venue, become more regular. Music is truly magical when it’s live. And Kolachi Quartet knows this all too well. Now all they need to do is, that it to the next level. If they can pack the PACC, they should also be able to garner quite a crowd for a ticketed show at the DHA Golf Club. Celebrity sells... and it can also sell good music as the Kolachi Quartet has shown.

link: The News International - No. 1 English Newspaper from Pakistan - Saturday, December 30, 1899

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