Notes from the War Zone

The two-time Grammy-nominated musician Rahim Alhaj,who was in exile during Saddam Husseins regime,is now merging sarod with the Middle Eastern sound of the oud.

Written by Suanshu Khurana

March 2, 2012 12:32 AM IST

4 min read

The year was 1991. While Indian music was going through a bad phase,churning out worthy ditties occasionally,musicians in Iraq were living in constant fear of reprisals from the Saddam Hussein government. Rahim Alhaj,an Iraqi oud (a Middle Eastern string instrument) player,was a victim not only of war and instability but also of political rebuttal,as he refused to compose tributes for Husseins rule. Instead,he wrote protest songs. I was completely against the regime and refused to abide by the rules. Those days of my life are difficult to look back at, says Alhaj,who was imprisoned and tortured twice for alleged political activism. He found himself standing at the border of Iraq and Jordan,with a false passport and some money that his mother gave him after selling her jewellery and all her possessions. He wanted to practice his art anywhere but his own country. Yet,despite the years of turmoil and exile till 2004,what stayed with him was years of listening to Indian music and his oud.

The serenity of the intricately-woven Indian musical notes tugged at my heartstrings. For sometime,I would forget my problems. In the wake of various conflicts that the country has gone through,I have grown up listening to a lot of music by Pandit Ravi Shankar and Zakir Hussain, says Alhaj,a two-time Grammy-nominated musician,who was in India recently for a collaborative concert with sarod players Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan. The concert in Delhi was organised by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and titled Ancient Sounds and saw a packed house.

Sarod and oud are very similar in nature,as both have been developed from the rabab. I have grown up listening to Indian classical instruments. It was an honour to collaborate with some of the best artistes in India, says Alhaj,who met sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan in 2002 in Albuquerque,US,where he lives now. He was so fascinated by the sarods sonorous sound that he suggested we collaborate, says Khan. The collaboration fructified into an album titled Ancient Sounds (UR Music). This earned Khan his first Grammy nomination. Both the artistes were nominated in the Best Traditional World Music Album category in 2010.

The concert in Delhi opened with a solo raga presentation by Amaan and Ayaan a bandish,jod and jhala in raga Jhinjhoti,in a 16-beat time cycle. This was followed by a solo oud piece by Alhaj and three tracks from Khans Grammy-nominated album. I am used to a calmer style of playing sarod with their father,which is full of intricate innovations. Amaan and Ayaan have more energy in their music, says Alhaj,who is performing world over.

After years of living in exile,Alhaj went back to his homeland in 2004 and found that the Institute of Music in Baghdad a place where he learnt music from the legendary musician Munir Bashir had been burnt down. These are the moments I feel extremely hurtful about. That is why I try to make music that is relevant in todays times, says Alhaj,who recorded Iraqi music in the Time of War a month after the US invaded Iraq.

Will he ever go back to his native land,among his own people? I would love to. But I have found a life for myself in New Mexico a beautiful place where I am not scared for my life, says Alhaj.

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Notes from the War Zone

The two-time Grammy-nominated musician Rahim Alhaj,who was in exile during Saddam Husseins regime,is now merging sarod with the Middle Eastern sound of the oud.

The two-time Grammy-nominated musician Rahim Alhaj,who was in exile during Saddam Husseins regime,is now merging sarod with the Middle Eastern sound of the oud.