A Different Flow - Emad Rahman on the Sax and Afaq Mufti on the Keyboards - 14th Jan 2018; Karachi, Pakistan, Planet Audio at Studio 146
Nothing pleases me more than meeting old friends especially from the music industry who I have worked with in the past. My path with Emad Rahman crossed in 2006 when I recorded a song in his Phase 5 studio in Karachi, though sadly we never released it, however kept in touch and followed each other’s musical journeys over the years.
Earlier this year, I happened to be in Karachi and visited his new studio Planet Audio at Studio 146 briefly to catch up (after twelve years) and listen to his recent artistic album "Raanva" with Kaya the Band.
After enjoying samples of the band’s new songs, which were an interesting mix of jazz and soft rock fusion with strong bass lines, I was inspired to play some music and asked Emad to bring out his Saxophone (especially as we had never jammed before on his Sax). Due to shortage of time, we agreed to take a couple of pictures of him holding the Saxophone and I on the Keyboard.
Regardless of my sitting on a piano or computer keyboard, I immediately become inspired and start playing my emotions (or typing my thoughts). A musical piano keyboard is quite different from an office computer keyboard; both belong to different worlds, mindsets with unique skill set but can be equally creative.
And so naturally I started playing a musical piece very familiar to me. Without both of us realizing it, what was supposed to be a quick five seconds photo shoot turned into a slightly longer impromptu jam session.
While playing the piano, I felt at ease and light; as though I was de-toxing myself and the environment around me. My mind began drifting away to my recent past; it had been a year since I took a conscience break from the corporate world to take care of personal matters. At times I did feel a bit lost or like a fish out of water, especially after being used to the fast corporate finance career lifestyle for twenty years.
Putting the past aside, I embraced the present and instantly started playing; so did Emad. He had not heard this song, however his soulful and sonorous Sax easily found its way with the soft melodious keyboard and we were on our way to a short mini jamming journey.
Any musician appreciates that at times the best jam sessions are the unplanned ones with just two participants, ironically also when one is not familiar with the other’s music. Initially both play in a slightly shy disconnected and lost manner trying to feel the pattern in the melody but slowly find a common ground in each other’s rhythm allowing inspiration to flow effortlessly which can sometimes lead to an astonishingly creative collision.
Similar to an impromptu musical session, in life we can never be sure of the outcomes of any our meetings, events, choices and decisions. At times a decision can eventually end up being a blessing in disguise with an amazing outcome.
I have always believed that in life everyone has a unique journey filled with roads which are pre-planned for us and paths we create for ourselves. For me, the trick to survival and finding positivity has always been to act like water which finds its own way and eventually takes the shape of any new environment.
And when my journey reconnects me to creative musicians like Emad, the sentiment of a lost fish out of water easily floats away while a new realization anchors in that what was once a sea of silence has now expanded into a larger ocean of creativity.
Here is a short clip of us playing my song "Khamoshi" (Silence) • Khamoshee 2003 (Silence) ) from 2003 rediscovered by a distant memory floating nearby.