Street Music
Akram Dost recently sent me a video of a Baloch musician
jamming on a Tanbourag (a delicate
long-necked Balochi string instrument), with
a very young tabla nawaz in a village carpenter’s tiny workshop. The musicians sat on a dusty floor, light streaming
in through the door, as the magic of music entered my space from theirs.
Aamir Mughal suggests Baloch musicians are descendants of the
Osta , a community that offered their services to tribes to sing of their
history and achievements. The Manganhars
of Thar, who gifted us Mai Bhagi and Allan Fakir, and the Banjaras of
Rajasthan, the community of the famous folk singer Reshma, played a similar
role. Pathanay Khan, the Seraiki folk singer, collected firewood for a living,
Alam Lohar of Punjab, a blacksmith, Faiz Muhammad Baluch, a labourer by day, kept sufi
literature and folk lore alive.
Every region of Pakistan has its folk music, song and dance,
performed at occasions of celebration or loss, or at social gatherings. Fear of reprisals by religious extremists sent
many folk musicians underground. It was feared that since most musicians start
their passion from childhood, the transmission of musical traditions may have
suffered. Yet, under the radar, folk
music survived, finding urban platforms to return to the public eye.
Music in public spaces has a long tradition in every part of
the world. Embedded in cultural rituals, its continuity is ensured, from
informal performances to sophisticated classical forms.
Urban folk emerged with folk singers like Joan Baez, Woody
Guthrie and the Gypsy Kings entering, and influencing main stream music of the
60s and 70s. The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix and Janis
Joplin performed regularly in public spaces.
“Happenings” combined music, art and poetry in extraordinary public events.
Street musicians date back to antiquity in all
civilizations. The wandering minstrels of medieval Europe , or troubadours, derived
from the Arabic tariba, the Flamenco performers of Spain, the Mariachi musicians
of Mexico accompanied by guitars, adapted from the Arabic qitara.
The English term Busking, from the Spanish “buscar”, used
for street musicians who perform for tips, was introduced by the Roma or
gypsies in the 19C. Playing music for money became so popular for the out of
work poor in Victorian England, that Charles Dickens wrote of being “daily
interrupted, harassed, worried, wearied, driven nearly mad, by street
musicians.” Laws were formulated to ban street
musicians, which remained in place in London till 2001 when the cellist Julian
Lloyd Webber became London Underground’s first official busker.
Buskers are a common site on streets and plazas of most
cities. Many well-known musicians
started their careers as buskers including Ed Sheeran, Tracy Chapman, Rod
Stewart and B. B. King. Occasionally,
musicians such as Bruce Springsteen and Bono, will surprise their fans by
playing in public.
For the artwork “ Play Me, I’m Yours” the British artist,
Luke Jerram, placed 1,900 street pianos in 60 cities across the world inspiring
an estimated 10 million people. A viral
video of a homeless man, Donald Gould, playing a street piano, changed his life,
leading to the release of his first album.
Music in public places is uplifting and brings people
together. Lawrence Gardens in Lahore has held free theatre and music events for
years. Karachi has a number of great public venues for music – Frere Hall, Kothari Parade, Bagh
Ibn e Qasim, the newly cleared surroundings of Empress Market, Jehangir Park,
Boat Basin and the many Sunday markets. For a nation of music lovers, melody in
the urban soundscape would counterbalance the despair of shrieking sirens and
the cacophony of traffic.
Durriya Kazi
February 19, 2019
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