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A TRIBUTE TO USTAD panied on harmonium, with Surjeet Singh Sadly, despite all the months of hard playing lehara on sarangi to Hussain’s spell- work, the weather gods had other plans for ALLA RAKHA binding stories in rhythm. He interposed spo- the outdoor festival, a violent storm forcing Queen Elizabeth Hall, London ken insights that illuminated his Punjabi style the organisers to abandon the stage under of tabla playing and tabla compositions. The the bridge at the last moment and source Every so often you attend a concert so honour of opening the Tribute fell to the trio an alternative venue indoors. Help came extraordinary you hardly dare to believe. of Kishon Khan (piano), Patrick Zambonin (six- from the Dom Herceg Stjepan Kosaca the- This was one. A.R. Qureshi of Bombay’s cusp string electric bass) and Oreste Noda (congas atre on the Croat side of town enabling the of Partition-era film industry, later reborn as and percussion). Combining Bangladeshi, Baul, festival to stage what was, by all accounts, a the paramount Hindustani rhythmist Alla Cuban and jazz elements, I shall follow their very enjoyable opening night with Macedo- Rakha died in February 2000. Over the inter- progress avidly. Perfect is an awfully big word, nian Gypsy queen Esma Redzepova and the vening years the Allarakha Foundation has but this was a perfect Tribute to Alla Rakha. new line-up of Bosnia & Herzegovina’s kept the torch burning. The mood of the world music stars, Mostar Sevdah Reunion Tributes has changed, moving from the emo- Ken Hunt with Ljiljana Buttler, showcasing music from tional to the celebratory. Sultan Khan’s their forthcoming Café Sevdah project. The Rajasthani sarangi and vocal lullaby was a opening night was broadcast by BiH chan- high point in 2001 seared into concert- MOSTAR WORLD MUSIC nel TV Pink and also beamed out to many goers’ memories. This whole concert though FESTIVAL more viewers across the satellite network. ranks as one of the greatest Indian music I arrived on the second day of the festival concerts of my life in music. Mostar, the capital of Herzegovina, is home to witness Bosnian rock chick Irina Kapetanovic to a fascinating mix of cultures and faiths, Age has caught up with the most senior deliver a short set of traditional sevdah songs, bansuri (bamboo flute) maestro of our times. reflecting its special position bridging the Serbian band Biber and previous Audience Hariprasad Chaurasia can no longer sit cross- Orient and the Occident. Built along the Award winners at the Radio 3 AFWM, Terrafolk. legged on the podium. A section of the podi- banks of the dazzling emerald Neretva River, Biber were a real discovery and played an um had been removed to allow him to sit as the stunning mountain scenery provides a impressively varied set ranging from traditional on a chair whilst playing. But when his hands perfect backdrop to the city, where tourists acoustic material with the compelling voice of caressed his bansuri, about as long as his arm and locals mill about, beauty and devasta- Ivana Tasic, bass tanbur and tambourine to in length, you could see him filling with ener- tion sit side by side, and ancient and modern rockier numbers with bagpipes, drum kit and gy. It reminded me of the wizened little man co-exist quite happily. So what better way to guitars. Later, Terrafolk’s on-stage antics proved at the Nehru Centre in London who was talk- celebrate Mostar’s unique identity than to a hit with the crowd and complemented their ing softly and gently smiling in the wings stage a world music festival under the iconic frenetic musical virtuosity. For me, however, the transformed into the supercharged Alla Stari Most (Old Bridge). Martin Lubenov Orkestar stole the show on the Rakha as soon as his feet touched the podium. Inspired by the energy of the small-scale following night: with several personnel changes The centrepiece of Chaurasia’s performance festivals he’d witnessed in other European since the Barbican gig earlier this year and was his new raga composition called Brin- cities, record producer and Snail Records minus the brass section, they performed a davni Malhar – from Brindava, a place associ- Director Dragi Sestic set about realising his broad repertoire of Balkan Roma music incor- ated with the bansuri-playing Lord Krishna. vision of bringing together Mostar’s diverse porating influences from far and wide. Martin’s Assisted by Sunil Avachat on bansuri, Alla community through a festival of world deft and playful accordeon work kept the audi- ence eager for more while new Gypsy singer Rakha’s son Zakir Hussain Qureshi on tabla music. Setting up an independently run festi- Petar Yankov left a lasting impression with his (often feather-light in touch) and Gilda Sebas- val outside the political influence of the capi- soulful performance. tian on tanpura, Chaurasia’s rainy season raga tal was no easy task, but with the dedication had a mellow dhun-like feeling to it with – and tenacious efforts of Aleksandra Savic Having made a name for itself on nation- perception is everything – evocations of bird- (Director of World Music Centar Mostar), and al TV and radio, and gone some way towards call and the pitter-patter of monsoon rain. help from Mostar percussionist Baya Corlija uniting its citizens, Mostar World Music Festi- The tabla pyrotechnics of Zakir Hussain and others from the Sarajevo-based organi- val has the potential, with a bit of better luck on the weather front, to grow into a very had been the focal point of the first half’s dec- sation Muzicari Bez Granica (Musicians With- special event in future years. Watch this laration of guru and pedigree known as a out Borders), the long-planned project final- space: www.worldmusic.ba peshkar. His playing attested to why he is ly came to life for three nights during the revered as his father’s son. Fida Hussain accom- first week of September. Sofi Mogensen

At Mostar World Music Festival, Biber’s Milos Nikolic and Ivana Tasic