US singer all set to rock audience at concert on Sunday

LAHORE: A US singer of Pakistani descent, Jaffery Iqbal, is all set to perform in a concert on Sunday organised by the Rotary Club of Lahore Mozang in collaboration with their sister club in Wilmington, US.Iqbal (27) started music at the age of 10 and has performed with renowned artists like AR Rehman and Asha Bhoslay. He also won the Saray Gama Pa singing competition in 2008. He will be performing at the Al Hamra Cultural Complex on Sunday evening.He was selected to sing with Rahman on his ‘3rd Dimensional’ tour where he also shared the stage with some of the biggest names in the South Asian music industry such as Hariharan, Sukhwinder Singh, Chitra, Sujata Madhushree and Himesh Reshammiya.Jaffery told Daily Times through a telephonic interview that he was very enthusiastic about performing in Pakistan for the first time. He said that he had already performed among huge audiences in the US and India, but it was for the first time that he was going to perform in Pakistan.
The singer said that he was also working on his debut album, which would be released in the next few months. He added that he had visited Pakistan many a times in the past as his mother belonged to Karachi.Iqbal said that he had learnt some traits of classical music from famous teachers of the Subcontinent including Pandit Pranab Kumar, Ustad Hamid Hussain and Ustad Shafiqur Rehman. Adding that being able to sing classical Indian music with the ability to play the ‘Tabla’ and harmonium, along with a strong grip on Western music had given him a great opportunity to explore and combine different genres of music.“I feel at home whenever I am living in US, India or Pakistan and it is my deepest desire to play a role in bridging the differences between the three nations. My current tour is also a step forward in this way,” the singer asserted.Kathleen Meyer Rotary Club of Wilmington, Delaware and Almas Jovindah of Rotary Club of Lahore, Mozang told Daily Times that both clubs had initiated a programme called ‘The Pakistan Project’ to carry on social and cultural activities in the US and Pakistan in order to initiate social welfare related programmes, while providing a platform to the citizens of both the countries to understand each other.They mentioned that Iqbal has a demanding concert schedule in the US. He is well known on the Eastern seaboard. They said that the clubs had decided to organise his visits and concerts in Pakistan due to his unique background and understanding of cultures of both the regions.“His voice, performance, style and appearance clearly give him a rock star quality. I think you will find that audiences love him – women and men,” Kathleen said – Dailytimes