ISLAMABAD: ‘Starry Night’, a concert featuring three musicians, was held at Café Behbud’s Rooftop Bagheecha on Saturday.

The performers for the evening were Umair Khan, Moazzam Ali Khan and Abbas Ali Khan, while Syed Shamoon Hashmi, the joint secretary of the Speaker’s Chamber & International Relations, was the master of ceremonies.

Umair Khan is a singer, songwriter, lyricist, composer and guitarist. His creative acumen encompasses not just vocals but also original compositions, and he entertained the audience with original songs as well as covers. He sang two originals – Dastaan and Gardish – and Tum Dur Thay by Junaid Jamshed and Aye Dil Meray Chal Re by Zohaib Hassan.

Moazzam Ali Khan, a corporate communications professional, is a singer at heart with a unique voice. He performed ghazals, picking favourites from amongst those performed by Jagjit Singh, written by Mirza Ghalib and Gulzar. Har ek Baat pe Kehtay ho Tum ke Tu Kia He, Sham say Aankh may Nume Si He, and Hazaro Khwahishein Aise Ke, delighted the audience.

Abbas Ali Khan, a veteran singer, songwriter and composer, began his journey of music by casting himself as a pop musician with the album Sun Re. Over the years Mr Abbas sang himself into the reclusive, ambient and Sufi themed tunes that are apparent in his most recent album, Tamam Alam Mast. Classically trained, he sang a wide selection of songs from the Pakistani music industry, old Indian movie songs and his own albums including his solo, Mujhay Baar Baar from Tamam Alam Mast, which also appeared on Coke Studio.

The Vital Signs and Junaid Jamshed songs received great applause, as did the old favourites: Aaj Janay ki Zid Na Karo, Tere Bina Zindagi say Koi, Is Mor say Jatay Hain, Naam Gum Jaey Ga and Tujhse Naraz.

Javeria Malik, a photographer and aspiring singer, said: “Behbud is my all time favourite venue for live music and related activities. Quality food and great atmosphere make it a truly special evening out.”

Nageen Hyat, the founding director of Nomad, said: “Both Moazzam and Abbas are well trained, highly skilled and are blessed with strong voices and a lot of control over the semi classical genre. Abbas I have heard live before and he always sings with a great deal of passion. They need more exposure both nationally and internationally and we must promote this younger talent.”

Zehra Siraj Valliani said: “I was looking forward to my family and friends hearing both Abbas and Moazzam live for the first time. I have seen them singing and they are an awesome duo, and Umair has a cool voice. It’s a good change for Islamabad to experience mature voices, awesome songs and a night to remember!”

Behbud Association is a charity organisation which holds regular events at Café Behbud to generate funds. Rubab Tanzil, a consultant, said: “The concept about this particular event had been in my mind for a long time but due to the unavailability of Abbas it was difficult to have it earlier. The reason for particularly having this set of singers was that I feel the true essence of music and soulful classical singing is lost. Singers and especially Islamabadis look forward to having such entertainment in this small city. The true music listeners crave good music.”

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2017