C OVER STORY
Amjad Sabri's Coke Studio
debut: The legendary
qawwal's parting gift
T
he untimely death of Amjad Sabri has left many
of his fans and contemporaries heartbroken and
shattered.Only a few weeks before he was gunned
down in broad daylight, the Sabri scion had prepared for
his fans what has now become his parting gift: a muchanticipated Coke Studio debut. In what will now most
likely be dedicated to his loving memory, the collaboration will see him team up with another renowned qawwal
and playback singer Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. In the
show, Amjad will be seen singing the famous qawwali
Aj Rang Hai, which has been previously performed by
Hadiqa Kiani on the show’s Rohail Hyatt-produced fifth
season in 2012. Talking to Boom, a Coke Studio 9 production crew member said, “Both Amjad Sabri and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan have collaborated on a qawwali.”As
Strings experiment with a multiple-producer approach
this year, the qawwali has been produced by Shani Arshad. According to the source, the duo of Rahat and Amjad had lengthy meetings with the producer prior to the
recording for the show. “Unlike majority of the artistes,
Amjad and Rahat did not require multiple takes to nail the
track. They recorded the song in one go instead.” Even
the house band underwent slight changes for the song
with the qawwal parties of both the vocalists replacing
majority of the show’s session musicians. “Rahat and
Amjad both had two to three people from their qawwal
parties alongside them whereas the tabla player also
belonged to Amjad’s group,” stated the crew member.
While Shani will be seen playing the keyboard, guitarist
Imran Akhoond and bassist Kamran ‘Mannu’ Zafar are
also part of the collaboration. Talking to Boom following
Amjad’s death, Shani had expressed grief over the murder. “To me his death comes as an even greater shock
because I had only recently worked with him on the qawwali for Coke Studio,” he said. Not willing to give away
more information about the song, he said, “I think it will
be a fitting tribute for Amjad Sabri and a great surprise
for his fans as he’s done a remarkable job on the single.”
Amjad’s appearance on the show would serve as a curtain call on the qawwal’s illustrious career that spanned
across nearly four different decades. Aj Rang Hai would
be Sabri’s sole appearance in the ninth edition of Coke
Studio. Speaking about the recording in May, Amjad 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].” Last year Atif Aslam had performed
a rendition of the qawwali, Tajdar-e-Haram, that was
made famous by Amjad’s father and uncle. “The tragic
death of Amjad Sabri is a huge national loss. In spite of
his great success nationally and internationally, he was
a gentle and humble person, treasured and respected
by everyone who met him,” Strings said in a statement.
“We’ve always believed in collaborations because this
is how the industry grows. It was a challenging task and
our guidance was required throughout the process, but
today we are extremely satisfied that we took this initiative.” The six producers part of the show’s lineup include
Shiraz Uppal, Noori, Faakhir, Shuja Haider, Jaffer Zaidi
and Shani while Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia will
be taking the positions of executive producers. Indian
vocalist Shilpa Rao and upcoming Pakistani singer Nirmal Roy will also be part of the show that will hit screens
on August 14.
13 | BOOM