Pakistani group to make debut in Capital Region
Spa Little Theatre, Proctors among tour stops
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. » Pakistan’s Sachal Ensemble is coming to the Capital Region on its first- ever U. S. tour.
The Sachal Ensemble is a group of traditional Pakistani musicians who will perform locally next month at Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s Spa Little Theatre, and at Proctors in Schenectady.
The ensemble was created by Izzat Majeed, a Pakistani investor and hedge fund manager turned philanthropist and music producer. Born in Lahore in 1950, it was Majeed’s singular dream to revive the soundtrack of his childhood.
Improbably, Sachal Ensemble had a breakthrough when a video of their interpretation of Brubeck’s Paul Desmond classic “Take Five” went viral. The international sensation created by the video led to, among other things, an invitation in 2013 for the Sachal Ensemble to collaborate with trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
The musicians’ extraordinary journey from Lahore to Lincoln Center is featured in a film called Song of Lahore film by Academy Award winning director Sharmeen Obaid- Chinoy and Andy Schocken.
Song of Lahore tells the story of the Sachal Ensemble – artists trying to survive under the oppression and brutality of modern day Pakistan. The film illustrates how their musicmaking not only brought inspiration to their lives, but literally sustained them in their struggles – and how, finally, they were discovered on YouTube and asked to perform at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
In one of the most poignant moments of the film, Nijat Ali, conductor of the Sachal Ensemble says, “we want to show the world that Pakistanis are artists, not terrorists.”
SPAC president Elizabeth Sobol first discovered the trailer for this film when she was still President & CEO of Universal Music Classics. She received an email from a colleague that said “you must watch this.” Sobol and her colleagues at Universal were so moved by the film, they determined to create a companion album celebrating the universal language of music – an East Meets West album fusing Sachal’s traditional Pakistani music with iconic Western songs of peace, love and understanding.
The project, also titled Song of Lahore, attracted Grammy Award- winning producer Eli Wolf, as well as Meryl Streep, Sean Lennon, Wynton Marsalis, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Nels Cline of Wilco, Madeleine Peyroux, and many others, all of whom were featured in tracks on the album.
Long after Sobol left Universal and arrived in Saratoga Springs to lead SPAC, the experience of the Sachal musicians and Song of Lahore stayed with her. She knew she wanted to bring their music and story to the region. And then, out of the blue, a New York agent contacted Sobol saying that he was organizing a U. S. tour of the Sachal Ensemble.
Sobol’s first thought was to contact colleagues Phillip Morris at Proctors and Teddy Foster at Universal Preservation Hall to see whether they might be interested in collaborating on the project.
Within a day, the three had worked to confirm two local performances with the Sachal Ensemble – one at Proctors scheduled for 8 p. m. on Oct. 28 and one at SPAC’s Spa Little Theatre slated for 7 p. m. on Oct. 30, co- promoted with Foster and Universal Preservation Hall.
Between these concerts, the film Song of Lahore will be screened at Bow Tie Criterion Cinemas in Saratoga Springs on Oct. 29. It will also be shown at Proctors on Oct. 24.
Tickets for the performance at SPAC’s Little Theatre start at $ 40 each.
More information on The Sachal Ensemble and its upcoming SPAC performance is available online at spac. org.
Tickets and information for the Proctors show is available online at www. proctors. org.