East Meets West - Part 2: Stand By Me Rendition (Sitar, Double Bass & Tabla), 12th Oct 2018
One of the key highlights of my recent visit to Karachi had to be attending the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) and meeting the prominent Sitar player Nafees Ahmad Sb. Though it was short, we did manage to jam for a couple of hours in the afternoon before he was flying off to Islamabad for shows with foreign embassies.
Here is a sample of my impromptu collaboration with Nafees Sb and some of the NAPA faculty and students on an Eastern / Western fusion of Ben E. King’s 1960 classic “Stand By Me”. Instruments included the mesmerizing Sitar, flowing Classical Guitar (Arsalan Pareyal), deep Double Bass, jazzy Electric Bass Guitar, intoxicating Eastern Tablas (Waqas Gulab), egg shaped Shaker (Jamal Yousuf) and the sharp Triangle (Daniyal Wasti).
To this day, I continue to be impressed by the bass line of “Stand By Me”; it has to be one of the best, most user friendly and catchy bass lines ever written. In my life, I have been fortunate to work with many musicians from all over the world and no matter whoever I have jammed with regardless of their culture, background and the origin of the musical instrument; I am marveled by how easily this global bass line brings every musician together and allows each one to adapt and shine almost instantly.
Not only the does the bass line compliment the poetic lyrics and melody of the song but when playing it, one actually feels as though all other musicians are literally supporting and standing by you (listen to the original version of the song, which starts with a Double Bass solo 💪😎).
If there was ever a perfect song written and sung with a perfect bass line and melody, “Stand By me” has to be one the strongest contenders. Felt blessed to jam on one of my favorite songs with one of my favorite instruments (namely Sitar) and with one of my favorite Sitar players, Nafees Ahmad Sb!!!