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Pakistani rock band plays
for peace
Thursday, November 14, 2002 -- AMHERST - Fusion of musical genres was never more
original than this: The Pakistani rock band Junoon is really Pakistani and
really plays original rock.
Unlike continental European bands that mimic Anglo-American singing styles with
bland recyclings of old pop and techno-whatever, and unlike Asian folk bands
that play legitimate worldbeat but don't actually rock, Junoon authentically
bridges the erstwhile gap between South Asian folk tradition and spirituality,
on one hand, and electrified big-city rock on the other.
Singing mostly in Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, they write and
perform a blend of Western rock and Sindhi and Punhabi folk music. Their
instruments range from electric guitar and bass to harmonium, ampura, tabla and
dholak. The three principal members are a Pakistani, lead singer Ali Azmat; a
devout Christian American, bassist Brian O'Connell; and a Muslim
Pakistani-American, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Salman Ahmad.
Long regarded in Pakistan with the admiration given in the United States to,
say, the Dave Matthews Band, or in Ireland to U2, Junoon may be little known in
New England, but they are the best-known rock band in South Asia. They have
performed on large stages in Paris, London, Copenhagen, Beijing, Tokyo, Dubai,
and at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, appearing with such musical
notables as Sting, Def Leppard, Lionel Richie, Pearl Jam and, for variety, Zubin
Mehta and Montserrat Caballe.
Fresh from a two-night stand in New York at the Village Underground, Junoon
comes to Amherst tonight to perform a free concert in the University of
Massachusetts Campus Center Auditorium.
According to the band's publicist, Junoon stipulated the free admission as part
of its desire to promote peace and understanding, especially at a time when U.S.
relations with Pakistan have been strained by alleged connections with terrorism
and the conflict in Afghanistan.
While Junoon is wildly popular in Pakistan, the band has sometimes been banned
from national television, evidently because of its repeated calls for an end to
government corruption.
John Stifler
Hampshire Gazette
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