The Jam Jar Presents: Ustad Noor Bakhsh

At 80 years old, Ustad Noor Bakhsh’s story is an interesting one. From an extremely remote village near Pasni, Balochistan, he is a master of the Balochi Benju (a keyed Zither), which he has played since he was a child. Noor Bakhsh is well known as a legendary instrumentalist throughout the Makran Coast, but only became more widely known in the last five or so years. 

After seeing a mobile phone video clip of Ustad playing, Musician and ethnomusicologist, Daniyal Ahmed traveled 1000km from his home in Karachi to find him. Daniyal’s recent recordings of Ustad went viral on social media and his global touring career began shortly afterwards.

The Benju looks something like a crudely electrified zither operated by typewriter-like buttons. Its existence began as a Japanese children’s toy called a taishōkoto before it was adopted by Balochi musicians and made into the refined folk instrument that it is today. 

Ustad plays an electric Benju, creating his unique sound through an old pickup and small Phillips amp he bought from a Karachi junk shop two decades ago. He carries forward the legacy of his teachers and inspirations such as Bilawal Belgium and Misri Khan Jamali but his own music is influenced by various traditions and musical forms far beyond Balochistan. His virtuosic playing is deeply rooted in Balochi musical forms and enriched by his knowledge of South Asian Raags, which he also renders in his own, experimental style.

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Presented by The Jam Jar.

This is an 18+ event