Sufiana music, western instruments
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KHAYAL maestro Rashid Khan is going places, somewhere in the West that is. Here the master of Rampur Sahaswan Gharana sings traditional compositions set to jazz or pop arrangements. Guitars and drums blend with traditional percussions and other instruments. It is a unique experiment which is enjoyable because of the novelty value.

He sings the poetry of Amir Khusrau and Baba Hazrat Raaz Barelvi. The blending of Indian and western styles of music symbolises the merging of two souls as in the Sufi line of thought. The entire album is suffused with Sufi philosophy where the desire to unite with God is expressed through the love for the beloved. Melodies are simple and it is the trained voice of Rashid Khan which does the mesmerising task.

Rashid builds on the melody of Amir Khusrau’s immortal "Naina Piya se `85" to make it a listening experience. Equally impressive is "Ae ri sakhi `85"

"Rhim jhim `85" is perhaps the slowest melody and it is here that Rashid Khan is at his best.

"Kirpa karo `85" takes a contemporary shape with the jazz arrangement. "Naina more rah takat hain `85" and "Kahun kaise sakhi `85" too are radically fresh.

Love it or hate it, but remix music seems to be here to stay. Times Music gave it a veneer of acceptability when it came out with Jalwa in 1998. Many old songs were thus resurrected and the younger generation lapped them up.

This album and its next edition sold millions of copies. Now Jalwa III is duplicating the success. Songs like "Hai re hai tera ghoongta `85" , "Baar baar dekho, hazaar baar dekho `85", "Navin Popat `85", "Spirit of Freedom `85", "O babua `85", "Roz shaam aati thi magar aisi na thi `85", "Jimmy Jimmy", "And then he kissed me`85", "Hass hogia `85" and "Salsa time `85" have been reworked to make them sufficiently hot for the dance floor.

This cassette has been sung by famous Punjabi folk singer Hardeep and set to music by the man with the Midas touch, Jawahar Wattal. Together, they weave a variety programme which has everything from bhangra numbers to serious love songs.

The album opens on a boisterous note with the title song penned by Davinder Khannewala and Karan Jasbir. The traditional "Charh ke tun doli `85" follows. The pain of broken love is portrayed through "Bada dukh hunda `85" but things are back to fun and frolic with "Punjabian di balle balle `85" and "Khand de pateese vargi `85".