Musical tribute to slain US journalist | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Musical tribute to slain US journalist

By Peerzada Salman

KARACHI: With a dash of youthfulness, the Harmony for Humanity concert on Daniel Pearl Music Day at the US consul-general’s residence proved to be a reasonably enjoyable event for the rather thin audience on Thursday.

Prior to the musical evening, Consul-General William Martin told journalists that Daniel Pearl was fond of music and himself played a few instruments. He said music transcended boundaries and united people in harmony. He said: “We’re here to celebrate the spirit of the late journalist.”

Mr Martin then formally welcomed the audience for attending the show and told them it was the 8th Daniel Pearl Music Day. He said the journalist knew no geographical boundaries. He was a music lover and could play violin and guitar. He was of the view that music could forge friendships. Then information officer of the US consulate Andie DeArment, who conducted the concert in a lively manner and tried to keep the spirits of the audience high, introduced the first act which was eight performances by music students of the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa).

First up was Saeed Ahmed’s violin solo which earned a decent applause. The second performance was a cover tune of the Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps by Saima Zakir and Rameez Khalid, followed by another cover Tu Mera Dil (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) by Zulfiqar Ali Shah, Nadir Abbas, Rameez Khalid and Ahshan Shabbir. An original number Tum Jano Na was the fourth performance of the students, while the next was Saima Zakir’s cover of a famous Santana composition on the guitar. This girl has some talent and if groomed well, she could go places.The sixth and seventh songs were original numbers (Bolo Bolo and Aa Ja Ve), while the last piece was a cover of a famous Fuzon song Deewaney Chale. The students did pretty well but the fact that they were all still young at their art, minor flaws could be detected in their performance.

The second act was a dance routine by a group called Thespianz to an Atif Aslam song Jal Pari. Though the performance shifted the gear of the show forward, the dancing couple looked a tad under-rehearsed.

An up-and-coming artist Shahzeb Waheed then appeared on stage and sang four songs (Deewane, Sathi, Ajnabi and Lamhe). His act received a lackadaisical response.

After Shahzeb Waheed, Thespianz came for the second time and danced to a famous film song Sajda.

The penultimate act of the evening was pop singer Saleem Javed’s son Joji, who presented a number dedicated to mothers and then crooned out an Enrique Iglesias song and invited Andie DeArment onstage to join him in the act. Their effort garnered a nice round of applause.

The final act of the evening was Saleem Javed accompanied by a dhol player. His arrival further enlivened the spirits of the sparse crowd and a small group started to dance in a frenzied style in front of the stage. Saleem began with Kaisa Tera Piyar and then upped the tempo by singing a couple of bhangra songs, carrying on with his versions of Indian films Love Aaj Kal and Jab We Met’s hit numbers Kadi Te Hans Bol and Jugg Sara. The audience kept insisting he sing his trademark Jugni, which Saleem Javed saved as the last piece. In between he did a couple of cover tunes and then rounded off his stint with a foot-tapping rendition of Jugni.
Source: Dawn
Date:10/22/2010