Coke Studio

Spirit (2x4)

: 26, 2009

Mai Ni Main by Atif Aslam Bulleya by Riaz Ali Khan Chup by Zeb and Haniya Saari Raat by Noori Mahi Ve by JoSH, and Shafqat Amanat Ali In the fourth studio session, Coke Studio took us through an exploration of the beauty of the human spirit and brought forth the positive energy of music as it lifted our spirits, touched our hearts and strengthened our emotional and spiritual bonds. Atif Aslam continued to showcase his versatility; from Billie Jean in the last episode to the classic Punjabi folk Kalam by Shah Hussain, Mai Ni Main in this season, Atif wears all his musical avatars with pride. Mai Ni Main is a resilient song which has been explored in the past by maestros ranging from Hamid Ali Bela to Reshma and now, Atif Aslam. The duo Zeb and Haniya brought to the studio perhaps their most recognisable song, ‘Chup’, after which their debut album is titled. The studio session treatment of this song sees both Haniya and Zeb share vocals to a retro musical feel with Omran Shafique working his way around his fret board to produce what he is best known for, groove. The ‘Spirit’ session highlighted another Baba Bulleh Shah poem, his eponymous ‘Bulleya’, sung by eastern classical musician Riaz Ali Khan, who hails from the Sham Chaurasia Gharana. As many may be aware, Bulleya has been released in the past by the likes of rock band Junoon and more recently, Rabbi Shergill. In his Coke Studio version of the song, Khan Sahib pays tribute to Bulleh Shah by composing his own melody in Raag Bhimpalasi, an evocative afternoon raag. The Noori brothers returned with guest musician and cousin Rakae Jamil on the Sitar to reinvent rock ballad Sari Raat, originally from their Peeli Patti album. Indeed this was a most unorthodox setting for the sitar and was in general, a challenging song to play. Ali Noor took the lead on power house vocals and Javed Iqbal stole the show with his staccato rock riff/solo on his violin at the end of this rock number.