This coming September and October, Noor Bakhsh, a legendary instrumentalist from the Makran coast of Pakistan will bring the electric benju to U.S. audiences for a rare performance of a unique and fascinating sound.
The Markan coast is the semi-desert coastal strip of Balochistan on the Gulf of Oman. Noor is a maestro of the Balochi benju (a keyed zither), which he has played since he was a child. Like his musician father, Noor spent the early part of his life as nomadic shepherd, taking his livestock and following the rains, before settling down as a professional musician himself.
The Benju was once a Japanese children’s toy called the taishōkoto before it was adopted by Baloch musicians living in Karachi and developed into the refined folk instrument that it is today.
Noor Bakhsh plays an electric benju, coaxing his sound through an old single coil pickup and a small amp he bought from Karachi decades ago. Because there is no electricity in his village, he runs the amp from a motorcycle battery, and maintains this setup on tour.
For those new to his music, Noor Baksh’s electric benju tone and his melodic ornamentations will be reminiscent of Ali Farka Toure and other West African guitarists’ style. His poly-rhythmic sixes and eights sound in many ways similar to the music of West as well as East Africa. This is unsurprising, given the well-documented migrations and seafaring intimacies between Balochistan and Africa, via the greater Indian Ocean world. It is this world that his music brings back to life.
We will be working with District of Raga to present two shows with Noor and his trio:
- Tuesday, Oct 1, 7pm – Current Space, Baltimore, MD: Buy tickets here!
- Wednesday Oct 2, 7pm – Bossa Bistro, Washington, D.C.: Buy tickets here!
