Inside Nescafe Basement: Asif Ali has music in his blood, but he's not sure if that's enough

Musician Xulfi, the creative force behind Nescafe Basement, has previously said he's unable to contain his excitement whenever he finds a musical 'gem'.

We feel the same way. During Nescafe Basement's fourth season several talented young musicians made us sit up and take notice. As part of our series on the music incubator, we take a look at Asif Ali's story.

Asif Ali

Tabla player Ali belongs to a traditional music family – or gharana as it’s technically called -- that’s been in the profession for around two centuries.

He belongs to the Arbab gharana. His great grandfather was a singer, grandfather tabla player in qawwalis, and then his father took over. His maternal grandfather played the iconic flute in Heer Ranjha’s ‘Sunn vanjli di’. His father worked at PTV where he got to play dholak and tabla with legends Madam Noor Jehan, Mehdi Hassan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (NFAK) and the next generation such as Asad Amanat and Shazia Manzoor. He even toured with all of them to the UK, the US and other regions.

Ali says the legendary tabla player Zakir Hussain had called his maternal uncle, Ustad Abdul Sattar Tariq Khan, the ‘Prince of Tabla’. His uncle, he says, was also invited by former US president George Bush to his daughter’s birthday to play the tabla. Former president retired Gen Musharraf met him there and found out he was a Pakistani. Upon his return, Mr Musharraf awarded his uncle with a medal of honour.

Tabla player Ali belongs to a traditional music gharana. His uncle, he says, was invited by former US president George Bush to his daughter’s birthday to play the tabla. Former president retired Gen Musharraf met him there and found out he was a Pakistani. Upon his return, Mr Musharraf awarded his uncle with a medal of honour.

“My father would teach me a thing or two at home when I was a child. One day he had taken me to the recording of a programme at PTV where he asked me to sing a little. Back then my father wanted me to study, not continue the family tradition and choose another profession. But when I would play the tabla after my father was done with his lessons, he would watch me and believed I was ready to be taught.”

Ali has an MBA degree from NCBA. While studying at the Government College University, as part of the music society he collaborated with renowned singers Shafqat Amanat Ali, Ali Zafar etc. He also played tabla and sang at weekly concerts in college.

“But I’m not sure if I want to take up music as a profession. I want to become a businessman and enter into a partnership with my mamoo, who is an event manager. Currently, I’m working as a music teacher at one of the branches of Beaconhouse school. I hope to get a good job with a multinational soon.”

"When a girlfriend says her parents don’t like music, it becomes a very difficult situation"

His first experience of singing in front of an audience was when he was in class 8. His father had committed to perform at two shows simultaneously, which he couldn’t. He told Ali to play at one of them as part of an ensemble with a singer. After the performance, Ali says everyone congratulated his father and his grandfather treated everyone to sweets.

Belonging to a musical family, what problem could Ali have really faced in pursuing his ancestral job?

None as such “except when a girlfriend says her parents don’t like music, it becomes a very difficult situation”.

“I’d like to request parents to first find out how famous or popular a musician is and how much he earns; someone doing something else wouldn’t be that popular ever. A musician is always asked by prospects, what else he/she did besides music, basically hinting at insecurity. That’s why I completed my studies so I could fall back on something.”

His Basement journey began through one of his students at school, Hassan bin Akhtar, who played the piano in season three of Basement. Xulfi had posted a status on Facebook that he was looking for a tabla player where his student tagged him. Xulfi then messaged Ali and asked him to send a demo, which Xulfi liked. He then called Ali over and asked him to play something western.

“There was no tension or nervousness; I met some amazing artists. The most difficult part is to do what the director wants. That was a task. ‘Talaash’ was my first song and then the very well-received ‘Tere jeya hor disda’.”

He calls Basement a great experience where he learnt a lot, especially how to collaborate with others. They had also never jammed for so long as they did for the show. “We don’t usually jam when doing classical concerts. We just go and perform based on the raga and beat.”

Ali listens to a mixed bag of musicians singing eastern, classical, semi-classical and ghazals.

“We have to listen to old and new singers because when we perform at shows, there are people from all ages there,” he says.

The feedback, Ali says, has been overwhelming. His friends’ count on Facebook has increased manifold. Where earlier he was known on a university level only, now people knew him internationally.

“Such popular stars have appreciated and liked our work. Kami Paul and Noori especially. Kami said he was amazed at how amazingly I played such a difficult instrument at such an age. Shujaat Ali Khan sahib called me from the US. We have appeared on live TV shows, radio channels, morning shows," he says.

Ali listens to a mixed bag of musicians singing eastern, classical, semi-classical, ghazals mostly with his favourites being Ustad Barkat Ali Khan, Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, Baray Ghulam Ali Khan, NFAK, Mehdi Hassan, Kishore Kumar, Muhammad Rafi, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Sajjad Ali, Arijit Singh and Sonu Nigam.

“We have to listen to old and new singers because when we perform at shows, there are people from all ages there.”

Ali says platforms such as Basement and Coke Studio, morning shows on TV help artists. In the last five to seven years due to a slump in the film industry, changing the image of music will take time. Now he says with some good movies being produced, things will improve in the next two to three years and “we will be able to compete with India”.

“So many artists are making great original music. How long will people listen to covers? We should play original compositions on TV and live. Sufi songs are very popular. If good music was being made earlier, it can happen now also,” says Ali, signing off on a positive note.

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