Benju boss Musician goes global in his 70s
The Guardian Weekly|August 04, 2023
When Daniyal Ahmed set off on a road trip from Karachi into the neighbouring province of Balochistan in early 2022, his only contacts were a few distant connections he hoped would lead him to a legendary musician. After circling villages near Pasni, a fishing port on the Arabian sea about a six-hour drive from Karachi, Ahmed by chance spotted Ustad Noor Bakhsh on the side of a lonely road sitting next to his broken motorbike, waiting for help.
Sadiya Ansari
Benju boss Musician goes global in his 70s

Ahmed, an anthropologist who teaches at Habib University, had been chasing down masters like Bakhsh in remote regions across Pakistan. Bakhsh was already well known within Balochistan as a solo benju (a type of zither) player and as Balochi vocalist Sabzal Sami's accompanist for three decades. Ahmed was alerted to Bakhsh's talents after he saw a video of him playing circulating on Facebook. A musician himself, he's invested in amplifying regional talent that has become obscured in a country lacking robust infrastructure to support musicians, especially those who play traditional music.

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