I went to a concert of Salman Ahmad (of Junoon fame) organised by Asia Society, NY. One of my friends asked me about whether i was interested and I jumped at the offer. I did not know the kind of music it was going to be, but i knew it would be different.
Reaching the venue was a task in itself because of the snow storm and one had to walk in puddles of snow and it gives you an uncomfortable feel when the feet gets wet. The concert started 15 min late and it suited us quite well.
Salman Ahmad is a doctor by training and quit for his first love music. He was accompanied by Samir Chatterjee on the tabla (my friend was learning tabla from him). Salman is a rock artist with a sufi soul. He has a pony tail and his attire resembled of a rock artist. He started with a couple of numbers which i felt were quite boring and then he hit on his most famous number "Sayyoni" of Junoon fame. That lit the place up and i got more interested at this point. His mastery over the guitar is a sight to see and he could play soft tunes and also really step it up and go over the top. The normal routine used to be he would string a soft tune, start singing and then show his full reportoire of guitar skills and them come back singing at the end and wrap up the song. I was not too impressed by his singing mainly because it was more at a high pitch. He was ably supported by Samir who was alert and upto the mark. He did not do anything extraordinary, but at the same time he held his own. I thought he should have been given a solo stint for say 10 min instead of Salman hogging the limelight. Salman showed his skills with the guitar during the middle of the concert and then tapered towards the end.
Salman's USP is his rock sufi type of music and i would put him as a better rock artist than a sufi artist. It seems like his DNA is rock injected with Sufi influences. He makes best use of his limited skills with his surprise element. I am saying limited skills when I compare him to lets say Mandolin Srinivas. Srinivas has grounded out in Carnatic music and then he moved on to fusion and his music shows the richness.
I was satisfied with the performance, but at the same time I felt something missing (having a nice masala dosai and not having a coffee to wash it down kind of feeling).
Reaching the venue was a task in itself because of the snow storm and one had to walk in puddles of snow and it gives you an uncomfortable feel when the feet gets wet. The concert started 15 min late and it suited us quite well.
Salman Ahmad is a doctor by training and quit for his first love music. He was accompanied by Samir Chatterjee on the tabla (my friend was learning tabla from him). Salman is a rock artist with a sufi soul. He has a pony tail and his attire resembled of a rock artist. He started with a couple of numbers which i felt were quite boring and then he hit on his most famous number "Sayyoni" of Junoon fame. That lit the place up and i got more interested at this point. His mastery over the guitar is a sight to see and he could play soft tunes and also really step it up and go over the top. The normal routine used to be he would string a soft tune, start singing and then show his full reportoire of guitar skills and them come back singing at the end and wrap up the song. I was not too impressed by his singing mainly because it was more at a high pitch. He was ably supported by Samir who was alert and upto the mark. He did not do anything extraordinary, but at the same time he held his own. I thought he should have been given a solo stint for say 10 min instead of Salman hogging the limelight. Salman showed his skills with the guitar during the middle of the concert and then tapered towards the end.
Salman's USP is his rock sufi type of music and i would put him as a better rock artist than a sufi artist. It seems like his DNA is rock injected with Sufi influences. He makes best use of his limited skills with his surprise element. I am saying limited skills when I compare him to lets say Mandolin Srinivas. Srinivas has grounded out in Carnatic music and then he moved on to fusion and his music shows the richness.
I was satisfied with the performance, but at the same time I felt something missing (having a nice masala dosai and not having a coffee to wash it down kind of feeling).
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