Recorded at 533 Souls Festival in 2021, on at The Curve Theatre, Leicester

Musicians:
- Shahbaz Hussain (tabla)
- Kirpal Panesar (esraj)

Lehra in Raag Charukeshi, Samay: Late Morning

533 Souls Festival celebrates mental well-being in the post-pandemic world through serene, contemplative renditions of ragas and yoga. Filmed and recorded live at England’s premier venue - The Curve Theatre, Leicester - this performance is part of the 533 Souls Festival. Curated exclusively with UK-based musicians.

In an expansive rhythmic imagination, Shahbaz Hussain presents the 7-beat cycle of Rupak taal in a brilliant solo presentation. Trained in primarily two styles of tabla playing, Hussain merges the power and precision of the Delhi gharana and the intricacy and richness of the Punjab gharana with his own sensitivity to weave an eclectic style into his presentations.

Hussain carves the bols with care, taking time to build the energy from stoic to a fluttering array of charming compositions, all played out with ease and palpable passion. Hussain’s father and first guru Ustad Mumtaz Khan was a vocalist who infused in him at an early age the transcendental power of nuanced tabla playing. Perhaps that is what makes his solos exquisite and often cloying, even when he is voraciously playing his qaydas at an electrifying pace.

Hussain pitches his performance upon edgy, tightly-drawn compositions delivering them in a vivid narrative with a fetching sense of control and assurance. He is supported beautifully by Kirpal Panesar - an accomplished multi-instrumentalist himself - on the esraj, who plays the refrain in Raag Charukeshi, bringing a yearning, pining essence to the background and heightening the mystique energy of Hussain’s solo.

Executed in collaboration with the De Montfort University and The Curve Theatre, the 533 series conveys hope and solidarity in these times to the students’ communities that have been negatively impacted in the UK. One of the worst COVID-affected areas, Leicestershire was moved to tier three by the UK government - a category that completely banned household mixing and led to the shutting down of pubs, restaurants and universities thus dashing the dreams and aspirations of young souls who had traveled to Leicester to begin higher education in 2020.

As the 533 seats in the theatre lay empty, the musicians disappear into a world of their own in unpretentious, sublime performances. Their stoic eyes gleam in tender submission to the grinding impact that the pandemic has brought to human lives. Yet, embracing stark reality with an unwavering, steely placidity, they bring hope, resilience and determination through their music. Nothing, not even the empty seats could deter them to show up – an important ingredient that constitutes human resilience since ages.