“My family was disgruntled by life in Karachi and we had returned to Lahore. Times had become exceedingly hard to make ends meet. It wasn’t until I received Faisal Kapadia’s call expressing interest in my flute skills for Coke Studio, that I got a new lease of life. That’s when I returned to Karachi,” says Ali, as he lights up a cigarette in his two-room cave-like studio. Though he sounds as complacent as he could, the studio spoke of the plight of these dwellers of shadows in an industry where flamboyance sells over skill.
Ali is of the outlook that money is never a priority for a genuine artist. He calls music a divine gift bestowed upon a chosen few. While recalling turbulent times, Ali recounts an incident that occurred when he was in Karachi with his older brother Abid Ali. His brother is also a flutist, who was famously crowned by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan at a maidaan of gharaanas. “Abid and I were passing by a street and were very hungry. We stopped by a small hotel and ordered biryani. We soon realised we didn’t have a penny to spare so I went up to the shopkeeper and emptied the plates back into the degh and we walked off with tears.”
The 30-year-old flute player shoulders the legacy of two generations of musicians. His grandfather, Ustad Ghulam Hussain, was an accomplished brass player and his father and only inspiration, Ustad Ghulam Shabbir, was a legendary flutist. He recalls his family’s association with Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Madam Noor Jahan as their session players. While talking about his deceased father, the teary-eyed flutist says, “After Baba’s death the only reason I continued music was because I wanted to see my mother happy.”
Ali started playing the flute at a tender age. He played his first show on PTV when he was eight and received a box of candies. That was the time his father recognised the child prodigy and started imparting tricks of the trade to his son.
The flutist moved back to Karachi in 2002 and got shelter, credit to an old acquaintance. “I decided to venture into music production and invested all my savings in a computer which turned out to be knackered,” he said.
Surrounded with instruments and faulty equipment, Ali recollects his Coke Studio experience. “I am the only musician in the young crop of the show who has played for film.” He added that veteran musicians in the string section like Javed Iqbal and Ghulam Abbas had all played shows with his 12-year-old self leading the orchestra with the flute.
He feels very strongly about the prospects of fusion music and sees Coke Studio as an ideal example of Pakistan’s cultural representation. “Many countries have tried but no one can produce fusion music that matches our standards,” he exclaimed. Ali said that it is only Strings’ first season in-charge and they have done a terrific job. He cast aside questions raised by critics about favouritism and politics. “I am an example of merit being prioritised. About a year back, a Coke Studio appearance was unlikely, not even in the wildest of my dreams,” he chuckles with an evident trace of despondency in his tone.
The Coke Studio star believes that it is only in Pakistan that musicians are sidelined while vocalists take the limelight. Having played in shows around the world, he says his honest liaison with his skill earns him admiration wherever he goes.
The flutist also happens to be a smalltime music producer. According to the artiste, it is the only other field in the industry apart from being a vocalist that pays well. He is unhappy with the role of the ‘middlemen’ between music composers and clients who eat up the lion’s share of the budget and spare little for the actual producer.
Nevertheless, Ali’s face did light up when he said, “I have been playing for around 20 years. But only after Coke Studio could I tell myself that times have changed. I can now buy a car!”
Ali’s Coke Studio stint was particularly acclaimed as a standout performance. He was perhaps the only musician on the show who did justice to the word fusion from playing soulful ballads to classical hymns and upbeat numbers. “Coke Studio is my stepping stone for better times to come,” he remarked.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2014.
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