Music maestro Ustad Naseeruddin Saami is all set to collaborate with Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan, according to media reports.
The Irish-American record producer, who has worked with artists from Romania, Italy, Cambodia, Rwanda and Mali will be working for the first time alongside a Pakistani musician.
According to Forbes, Brennan asserted, “Saami is a world class vocalist, both virtuosic and soulful at the same time… and that is a rare feat.”
He further added, “Beyond that, he has devised a new micro-modal system that is incredibly complex, but in no way feels complicated. It is so inherently musical that through it, the majority of listeners could find access to new sonic vistas without realising how far afield they have been led from standardised and rote systems.”
The collaboration was made possible courtesy of one of Saami’s students Ali Sethi.
Ali, who also appeared in Coke Studio’s Seasons 7 and 8, contacted the award-winning producer via email after he heard an album Brennan had recorded for the Malian folk band Tinariwen.
The Umran Langiyaan singer, with another one of Saami’s students, Coke Studio famed Zeb Bangash, wanted to expose their teacher’s voice to a broader audience for the past two years.
“His tutelage had a transformative effect on our lives,” Bangash stated. She further added, “As his students, we couldn’t fathom why someone like him didn’t have albums for the world to experience his music.”
“I felt Brennan’s sensibility would be perfectly suited to conveying the intricacy and intensity of Saami’s singing, which is all about the melodic space that exists between conventional notes, and requires a similar sensitivity to the artist’s environment and spiritual context,” Sethi asserted.
