World Music Institute Presents Ustad Noor Bakhsh

Pakistan’s Ustad Noor Bakhsh is a master of the benju – a rare, keyed zither that’s unique to the Balochistan region of Pakistan. It’s a captivating, idiosyncratic instrument — based on an imported Japanese children’s toy, and electrified with a motorcycle battery — that Noor Bakhsh plays to devastating, virtuosic effect. A brilliant and soulful improvisor, Bakhsh’s marriage of melodic ornamentation and spare, electric grooves has been compared to Ali Farka Touré. and other West African guitar heroes. Noor Bakhsh’s repertoire is diverse and deep, reflecting Balochistan’s legacy as a centuries-old trading crossroads, drawing from Balochi folk songs, Persian and Arabic ghazals, South Asian ragas, Kurdish tunes, and his own experimental compositions.