An evening of groovy music
By: Peerzada Salman
KARACHI: Music loses half its charm if it is not played with a consuming passion. This is why a capacity crowd of music lovers enjoyed each riff and every beat during a live performance by seasoned guitarist Aamir Zaki accompanied by four other talented musicians at T2F on Saturday evening. A dash of blues, a bit of jazz and a hint of rock n’ roll, despite technical shortcomings, proved to be a delightful experience for all those who had come to see the gig.
The concert kicked off with a Paul Simon song ‘50 ways to leave your lover’. In a manner of speaking, it set the tone for what was to come. The large audience (chiefly comprising the younger lot which was pleasantly strange because decades’ old music was being played) liked the vocal range that singer Sheldon Emmanuel displayed. He needs to work on his lower notes though. He sang the song in a nuanced fashion, heartily acknowledged by the audience. But as expected, every time Aamir Zaki played a solo on his guitar, young boys and girls greeted it with generous applause.
The next song was more or less of a similar mood after which the band changed gears with the famous and finger-snapping Ray Charles number ‘I got a woman’. The bass guitarist, Bradley D’Souza, came into his own and showed his range.
His coordination with drummer Gumby (who seems to enjoy a big fanbase) was worth lending an ear to.
But no less impressive was Abbas Premjee on his acoustic guitar.
He matched Aamir Zaki note for note.
As the show progressed, Amir picked his slide guitar and then Robert Johnson’s ‘Crossroad’ was presented. It was a decent effort which made everyone sways to the tune. It also gave a fair indication that even in this day and age of hip-hop and R & B, the old genre is still quite popular. ‘Walking blues’ further strengthened the notion.
As if it was inevitable, a Beatles track was thrown in. ‘Here comes the sun’ was perhaps the only song of the evening that a sizable number of the audience sang and hummed along. It lifted the tempo of the gig a little. To be honest, it was a nice rendition of a very famous song. Sheldon Emmanuel, in particular, should be commended for keeping the soul of the lyrics in mind while singing ‘Here comes the sun’.
The band wrapped up their act with ‘Feels alright’ in style making music buffs shout for more. The musicians did not oblige, and rightly so.
Taking into account the response of a large number of music lovers the concert can be dubbed successful. Only if the sound was a tad better (because whenever the musicians spoke into the microphone, including Amir Zaki’s attempt at singing, most of what they said sounded Greek) it could have been a far better show.
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