Coke Studio Season 9 - features Amjad Sabri

There's something special about Coke Studio Season 9, and I think this one will be remembered for a long time to come. It features Amjab Sabri, the world famous Pakistani qawaal who passed away tragically just a few days ago (may he rest in peace). In what is probably the last studio recording, Amjad Sabri together with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan read the qawwali, Aj Rang Hai. I have no doubt it will be awesome.

Although Amjad Sabri did not feature in previous seasons of Coke Studio, Tajdar e Haram was performed in Season 8 last year by Atif Aslam, as a tribute to the original performers, Ghulam Farid Sabri and Maqbool Ahmed Sabri. Amjad Sabri had also helped Coke Studio on this rendition. The rendition gained worldwide fame with over 33 million views on digital media. Speaking about his kalaam during the recording in May, the late Amjad Sabri had stated, “About 40 years ago, my father and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan read this kalaam at a dargah in Karachi and 40 years later, Rahat and I are reading it again (on Coke Studio Season 9).”

“Coke Studio is the ultimate manifestation of Coca-Cola’s music strategy and Season 9 will further strengthen Coca-Cola’s cultural leadership, celebrating diversity while bridging barriers relevant to the youth of today,” stated Rizwan U. Khan, General Manager of Coca-Cola Pakistan, and added, “It is very distressing that Amjad Sabri himself will not be with all of us to see Season 9 go on air in August. His death is a huge national loss.”

The vast talent on the music direction and production side will be matched in Season 9 by a dazzling array of artists, many of whom have performed in previous Coke Studio seasons, as well as several upcoming and talented singers performing for the first time in Coke Studio. While national icons who have performed previously include the likes of Abida Parveen, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Sanam Marvi, Umair Jaswal, QB, Saieen Zahoor, Ali Azmat, Noori, Zeb Bangash, Faakhir and Meesha Shafi to name a few, the new artists include Shilpa Rao, Mehwish Hayat, Momina Mustehsan, Natasha Khan, Ali Khan, Rizwan Butt, Basit, Rachel Viccaji, Nirmal Roy and of course the maestro of qawwali, Amjad Sabri.

The unrivaled success of Coke Studio over the years in connecting deeply and emotionally with the people and especially the youth, is evident from its immense digital footprint with 6.3 million fans on Facebook, more than 170 million YouTube views and 7.5 million plus audio streams. It is viewed by fans in some 150 countries and has been exported to 20 countries. In Pakistan it has proved to be a unique platform for high profile projection of everyone associated with the music industry, including singers, back up vocalists, composers, producers, musicians and technical persons of every possible specialty, without whose invaluable contribution no Season could have been produced.

I was fortunate enough to see Amjad Sabri perform live twice in the last few years. He had an energy which kept the listeners connected to the words and music for hours, stirring spiritual feelings and emotions, moving many to tears. It is a sad loss for Pakistan indeed. I can't wait to watch the maestro in his final recording for Coke Studio 9. Aj Rang Hai, written by the poet Amir Khusro (if I am not mistaken) is a beautiful qawaali about love... 

Aaj rung hai hey maan rung hai ri

Moray mehboob kay ghar rang hai ri
Sajan milaavra, sajan milaavra,
Sajan milaavra moray aangan ko
Aaj rung hai...

And may we never forget the messages of love which music brings us, and may we continue to respect each other's ways of life and diversity in Pakistan.

Peace.

-JB

Orion's Belt

It happened out of nowhere. Completely unplanned, and unexpected. I would be sure I had imagined these hours, but I have the mosquito bites to remind me it was real, it happened.

We talked for hours. We talked about many things, about our children, and dinosaurs, and constellations, the pyramids, and loved ones dying of Cancer. We walked surrounded by trees after midnight, with nothing but sounds of leaves and insects. Sometimes our arms would brush and it was nothing romantic or physical, it was just very comforting. They strange comfort of knowing someone else is there, to hear what I had to say, and to share their thoughts too. That, in that moment, they would catch you if you fall, and you them. That they would let you rest your head on their shoulders if you needed to, that they would hold your hand if a sound in the dark scared you. 

It was weird how we met, and that is why I am sure it was an important encounter, because destiny works in weird ways. And I am a great believer in destiny.

What I can't stop questioning is how you can talk to someone for hours undisturbed, without knowing very little about them. Just hunches of who they are, of what they like, of what they are saying and what they are actually hoping you will hear between the lines. And you're okay with that, because you like the sense of existence without having to justify it.

What do you call someone who is by definition a complete stranger, but in that moment feel closer to them than any of your friends? And your mind doesn't want to waste time trying to find which box this feeling goes into... or why you are feeling this... you just want to go with the flow, and you go with it. Like diving into a pool of water just because you want to and you can and it will bring you joy, wake you up, exhilarate you. They are there with you, and you with them... and in that moment, at that time, you both holding the moment, you give it your attention and it is important to be there in every sense of being. Not final like the last meal of a dying man, but more like being rejuvenated by a cool drink of water after a long exhausting run. A momentary pleasure, till you are thirsty again, but an amazing feeling of relief and peace.

What do you call the calmness they bring to your life in that brief time? 

How do you feel without having any feelings "before"? Knowing it is just momentary, temporary - and there are no feelings "after"? It's just here and now. Life happening in its purist form. And you're not in a hurry, there is only so much you can share in this limited amount of time.

It's all so strange. But I loved it. 

The intersection of two completely different people from two completely different worlds. Almost like an eclipse.

- JaneBravo