Legacy borne with excellence

On listening to the hypnotic cadences of Salar Nader, one will be forgiven if they thought the tabla was easy to play. But to play the instrument like a maestro takes decades of training and constant practice.

The music of the young Afghan tabla artiste speaks volumes about his mastery that eloquently transcends an elusive mix of different influences within the melodic vocabulary of classical folk music.

Born in 1981 in Hamburg, Nader's enthusiasm for music took shape from his father's unfulfilled desire to pursue a professional career in music. "My father, Mohammad Nader, used to sing Farsi ghazals and folk music," Nader says.

"To escape from the turmoil of the Soviet war in Afghanistan in 1979, my family fled to Germany. After my birth, my father left no stone unturned to instill in me the passion for music so that I could chase his dream. He bought a tabla set for me when I was just 6 months old."

Despite being brought up in the West, Nader's interest is steeped in classical and folk music of the East, especially in the celebratory Loghari and Mahali musical styles of Afghanistan. But working within a traditional musical idiom doesn't prevent him from conjuring up rigorous and inventive sounds for hybrid creations.

Indeed, with a playful sense of improvisation, he enriches and expands its expressive power while respecting the taste and sensibility passed down from master musicians of the past. As he switches effortlessly between composing, producing and performing, Nader combines his scope of repertoire and the enlivened emotion of the raga with unparalleled technical command of the tabla.

The extraordinary stylistic versatility is possibly due to the pedagogies of his prolific guru, the legendary tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain. However, it seems that Hussain is not familiar with the traditional Afghan songs as Afghan tabla players are. Is there any reason why Nader chose Hussain as his guru?

"Afghanistan's traditional music was heavily influenced by the music of North India [pre-partition Pakistan]. Later, the court musicians added traditional flavours to get the distinct sound and groove of the Kharabati style. Seeing the many connections between the legendary artistes of both regions, the music is very simple for someone with Hussain's knowledge of music."

One of the most influential musicians among his supporters is popular Afghan singer Ustad Farida Mahwash, who took his virtuosity to a new height by making him compose an introduction to the famous folk tune Bya Ke Borem Ba Mazar. "The practice led to divergent thinking," he says. "The introduction started with a composition (drum roll) and ended with a tihai (polyrhythm). This would signal the beginning of the song."

The most memorable experience, Nader says, was while accompanying the late Ustad Salamat Ali Khan during his concerts.

"I met him at my official gandha band (initiation) ceremony when I was 12 years old. He had a very special way of playing the tabla — using four or five different tempos within a recital. I was able to comprehend the khayal style much more realistically."

According to Nader, to acquire a comprehensive cognition of any art, it is crucial to visit and study its origin. After his first visit to India in 2003, Nader began a very strict reyaz (practice) regimen for producing clarity of the bols (syllables) and the phrases. In addition, he pursued his Bachelor of Arts at the University of San Francisco. He also developed a liking for playing with the Kathak dance as he believes "the intensity and spontaneity of Kathak challenges the strength of a tabla player".

"As young musicians in the United States, we follow the keeping-up-with-the-Joneses mentality," Nader says.

"In India, due to the artistic environment, we can really dive deep into the art and improve our skills. It was an eye-opening experience for me to be among aspiring tabla players and scholarly musicians. The daily practice regime really helped me improve my delivery. "

Nader's compositions have been few but they started with the theatrical production of Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner where he underscored certain parts of the script with Afghan folk music. His debut album Space Island features fusion music with sarangi maestro Ustad Sultan Khan Saheb and bassist Rob Wasserman.

Recently, he has been featured in Fareed Haque's Flat Planet, DJ Cheb I Sabah's Devotion and the Sufi music track Qalenderi, where the vocals were provided by Riffat Salamat, daughter of the late Ustad Salamat.

The artiste is improvising with different percussion instruments in collaboration with outstanding Afghan rubab players Humayon Sakhi, Rahul Sharma, Abbos Kosimov and Kronos Quartet.

"By collaborating with fellow artistes such as Humayon Sakhi and looking forward to the Kabul Musical Festival, I endeavour to raise the level of my music and preserve a trajectory rooted in a deep understanding of the instrument and its beautiful melodies, which were forbidden during the post-Soviet and Taliban government periods," he says.

"People love our music because they feel sympathetic towards Afghans or perhaps the music speaks to their hearts. But apart from the rough sledding, the beauty of Afghanistan's musical landscape dwells in its diversity. The tradition represents a confluence of cultural influences from Persia, India and Central Asia. I am on a quest to represent the Afghan people in a more positive way. With the return of professional musicians from exile in Pakistan and Iran, I can see things only getting better."

Layla Haroon is a freelance writer based in Abu Dhabi.

Salar Nader will perform at the World Stage series in Abu Dhabi on December 10.