Bari Barsi by JoSH
Chal Diyay by Zeb and Haniya, and Javed Bashir
Jo Meray by Noori
Wasta Pyar Da by Atif Aslam
Yar Daddi by Ali Zafar
“Music and musicians can never be limited by things as small as borders or ethnicities. Historically, music has always been a social equalizer. In Pakistan the problem is that there is no musical platform which is large enough to draw in musicians from various regions and traditions, and bring them together to produce music. Coke Studio has stepped in to provide this platform.” Zeb & Haniya
The Coke Studio journey started this year with the acknowledgement of Individuality; as a tribute to the artists and musicians who each bring their own diverse and unique magic to the platform. With this acknowledgement came the awareness that, despite differences, working together and finding a common ground is possible. And through this period of Harmony came the recognition and realization of Equality. Coke Studio’s third episode, titled Equality to symbolize this aspect of the on-going journey, contained a surprising variety of musical genres.
Ali Zafar performed Yaar Daddi; the famous Siraiki kafi immortalized by Ustaad Muhammad Juman of Sindh. Accompanied by Baqir Abbas on the flute and Ali Hamza on the Banjo, Ali Zafar, surprisingly, took to the harmonium. This timeless classic has been restyled on Coke Studio, with a strong flamenco influence, complete with rapid-strumming guitar passages and rhythmic claps. Although this rendition does feature contemporary and essentially western ingredients it retains the very soul and essence of indigenous folk and brings this gem of our musical inheritance to the forefront once again, to be enjoyed and cherished by yet another generation of music lovers.
“This is the way Jo Meray was meant to be and this is the way we will perform it from now onwards” is what the Noori brothers say about their song at Coke Studio…Ali Hamza takes the lead once more with Jo Meray, with Ali Noor singing harmony and bringing a rich fullness to the melody, along with backing vocalists Saba Shabbir and Natasha De Sousa. Joining the house band and Noori for this song was the young Rakae Jamil on Sitar bringing in an eastern flavour to an otherwise contemporary and classic Noori rock song.
Atif Aslam continued his Coke Studio tribute to the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Saab with his rendition of Wasta e Pyaar Da. However, this song surprised fans and was indeed particularly poignant given the songs’ transition into a Michael Jackson classic. Atif makes a unique and spontaneous transition to a stylised, bluesy rendition of Billie Jean with an almost orchestral violin contribution by Javed Iqbal. In this session, Atif salutes two musical maestros equally through his choice of songs.
In episode three, we also witnessed JoSH in their signature bhangra element with Bari Barsi – a change from their debut Coke Studio softer melody, Jaaney Do. Bari Barsi was a variation on this traditional bhangra refrain with Gurpreet Chana collaborating on his dhol building up to a crescendo ending. This song saw JoSH doing what they're best known for: bhangra!
The headline act for our third session was the collaboration between Zeb, Haniya and Javed Bashir for ‘Chal Diye’. The song was written by Haniya as an 'ode to her hometown, Islamabad' and features on their debut album, Chup. While Zeb was vocally superb in this duet with the incredibly talented Javed Bashir, Haniya’s impressive talent as a guitarist subtly came into clearer focus. Interestingly, both Zeb and Javed Bashir, more fondly known as JB, shared the same Ustaad, Mubarik Ali Khan.
Producer, Rohail Hyatt’s creative touch is clearly evident in Chal Diyay and this delicately re-crafted Coke Studio version features guitars on alternate tunings, signature keyboard parts and eastern percussionists holding firm to an eastern jhol.
With this episode, Coke Studio looked to equalise music, its boundaries and genres. Come and join us again in a fortnight, July 26th, as we continue to reflect the beauty of the human spirit. Feel the positive energy as music lifts our spirits, touches our hearts and strengthens our emotional and spiritual bonds.
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