USTAD NOOR BAKHSH + HANNAH MOULE – THE CON CLUB, LEWES 5.7.24
After being subjected to lacklustre football performances and mostly mediocre festival coverage on the TV, I was more than happy to escape on this humid but windy Friday night and venture to the excellent Con Club in Lewes for a concert with a difference. For tonight, we were to bear witness to a rare performance from the one and only Ustad Noor Bakhsh, as he brings us the welcome and exotic taste of rural Pakistan, to this room between four walls in East Sussex. I was at this very same venue the night before (Thursday) to see a Post-Punk electronic outfit by the name of Chaos 8. You could say that tonight was the polar opposite musically (which is not a bad thing). That particular fact made the prospect of this evening all the more intriguing as I planned to immerse myself into something new (to my ears anyway).
Ustad Noor Bakhsh originates from Balochistan (on the coastal border of Pakistan and Iran) and is a world renowned virtuoso player of the electric Balochi ‘Benju’. This instrument has a unique sound and is a keyed zither based on a Japanese Children’s toy called the ‘Talshokoto’. Over the years, it has been adopted and refined by Balochi Folk musicians into the instrument we see before us tonight. Ustad has also been known to play this instrument through an amp powered by a car battery and a solar panel. An anthropologist by the name of Daniyal Ahmed tracked him down in 2022 by chance, on the side of a road as he was waiting for his motorbike to be fixed (6 hours from Karachi). Daniyal and Ustad struck up a friendship, and before you knew it, Ustad had recorded an album (called ‘Jingul’) and Daniyal became his manager. In recent years, Ustad Noor Bakhsh went viral worldwide, through his online videos and recent recorded outputs. As a result, at the age of 78, he has embarked on a European tour, taking in ten countries along the way. He first played the UK in March, when he played a sold out Queen Elizabeth Hall (Southbank, London) to rave reviews and much dancing in the aisles. Tonight’s Con Club gig has also sold out, so the gathered throng was expecting a treat.
Tonight’s event was hosted by ‘The Rose Hill Presents’ Collective which is a Brighton based art space dedicated to bringing people together in interesting ways. The first act tonight was an unexpected one in the form of ‘Hannah Moule’ who is also in a popular band called ‘The Moulettes’,who are also Brighton based (I will get back to her performance later on in this review).
Ustad Noor Bakhsh was due onstage at 9pm, and by this time the room was filling up with lots of expectant faces. The crowd tonight was nice and diverse and made up of various age groups. I could also imagine a good portion of them were keen and seasoned travellers (Well, we’ve all made it to Lewes anyway). I was informed that Ustad’s hospitality rider was a little different from the average one, as he had requested three cushions. I was a bit disappointed at first when entering the room to be confronted by instruments and some rather small and underwhelming cushions, but that was thankfully remedied when the musicians took to the stage with some rather plush looking ones in tow. The majority of the audience were sitting on the floor at this point of the evening, which made it a bit of a logistical nightmare when walking to the toilet and back again. A ‘Rose Hill’ compere made an announcement just before showtime, that we were requested to stand up in order to get the rest of the 250 audience members in the room (this didn’t seem like a hardship to most, as dancing would no doubt ensue before the night was out).
9pm chimed in, as Ustad Noor Bakhsh and his fellow musicians took to the drum riser in the centre of the stage, in order to give us all a good vantage point. Ustad (clad resplendently head to toe in white) raised his arms aloft and greeted his audience, to a big and welcoming applause from the gathered throng. The musicians took to their positions cross-legged on cushions, and after an introduction from the main man himself, they started to play their unmistakable sounds. Daniyal Ahmed (as mentioned earlier) was accompanying Ustad on the Tamboura, which is a fretless Asian lute-like instrument that produces a unique drone sound. He was also translating this evening and told us that Ustad’s first song was all about roaming the jungle. I’ve been listening to the ‘Jingul’ album during the week as it happens, and I can report that it is a very soothing listen and the sounds emanating from the stage tonight did not disappoint me. I have read that we would expect to hear and experience a rarely heard spiritual form of dance music called ‘Balochi’ that draws from many influences including Persian and Kurdish tunes in amongst local pop songs (some Bollywood ones) in amongst influences of birdsong and the nature that surrounds him.
By the second song, Ustad requested that the lights go up in the audience as he likes to see the eyes and faces of the audience members. This request was made to happen (with added disco ball effect) and everyone was happy. Much of Ustad’s set is improvised, so it was quite amusing when even Daniyal didn’t recognise the third song in the performance. By this point, Ustad and his two Tamboura players were in full flow, and at one point in the song the tune seemed to suddenly elevate and lift people’s moods in the room. It may have been wet and windy outside, but at this point the room was getting rather hot as the crowd clapped and danced enthusiastically to the music. A few songs later, Ustad played the Benju whilst standing up, which must be almost akin to Jimi Hendrix playing his guitar behind his back in the 1960’s. Daniyal managed to break two strings on his Tamboura while on tour which he said is almost unheard of. He said they had purchased some German strings in the hope that they would be reliable, but they were quickly learning otherwise (which raised a laugh from the audience). The strings were being fitted by his fellow Tamboura player, so Daniyal chatted to the audience. He told us about Ustad’s amplifier that was being powered by a motorbike battery, and he was using the same means of amplification tonight too, as he didn’t want to plug into the mains supply. People were chatting quite loudly during Daniyal’s talk which was met with a very loud “Shhhh” from some of the audience. Daniyal said not to worry though, as by day he is a teacher and is used to such behaviour (a big laugh ensued).
Ustad’s polyrhythmic style of playing and improvisation has been likened to Ali Farka Toure, or so I have read. Similarities with music from West and East Africa have also been mentioned. After an hour and a half’s performance, the night was sadly coming to a close. It was now time for Ustad Noor Bakhsh to unleash his popular and much anticipated rendition of ‘Shahbaz Qalandar’ to a highly excited crowd. It put a big smile on my face to witness the crowd clapping and dancing flamboyantly to this song, and the musicians on stage seemed to be having the time of their lives. Ustad at one point made a comment about his age saying, “All my meat is gone. Only bones left”, but no-one could deny the skill and energy he displayed tonight. The fact that Ustad, at 78 years of age, can play his music on a tour throughout 10 different countries in Europe, is testament to his amazing energy. As he says himself, “When I play the Benju, I’m still young”. It certainly felt like a rare privilege to see Ustad Noor Bakhsh perform tonight with his fellow musicians. and It is definitely something you don’t see every day. He is a master of his instrument, which at times takes your consciousness off to distant faraway places, and as high in the sky as the birdsong he is inspired by.
As mentioned earlier, the first act of the night was Hannah Moule who would be performing a mostly improvised set accompanied by her cello. Her band, ‘The Moulettes’ have made quite a name for themselves it seems, and their latest project (mostly born out of Lockdown) was to write and perform ten new songs in five different ways. That would add up to a hell of a lot of music, so to add to the concept, they decided to compile a book highlighting the songs by giving their audience access to them via QR codes (Novel I think you’ll agree?). To top it all, she told us that the QR code was a “Winged bum” one (I can only imagine…). They have recently toured this music, which ended with a performance at the legendary Minack Theatre in Cornwall. Hannah took to the stage armed with her cello, and played an instrumental intro that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on an album by The Unthanks (which is fine by me). It was soon evident that Hannah was a talented player and her favourite notes were the low rumbly ones.
The crowd’s (winged) bum’s were sitting firmly on the floor at this point, as they enjoyed Hannah’s soothing tunes, which musically switched from ‘bowed’ to a ‘plucking’ technique (in Cello speak). She described her music as “Community music” and sang a catchy song called ‘Picture Frame’, which showed us that she had a good voice to match. The General Election results could not go without a mention, and Hannah informed us that she was feeling “Cautiously optimistic now there’s a few less Tories about” (and I’m not about to argue with her on that). Hannah Moule played us her favourite note (a low one) and her enjoyable set with a song called ‘Words’. A good start to the evening, and I will be paying attention to all things ‘Moulettes’ from now on.
