{"id":42849,"date":"2024-09-24T12:44:31","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T16:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=42849"},"modified":"2024-10-31T16:53:36","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T20:53:36","slug":"revie-arooj-aftab-paradise-rock-club-9-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2024\/09\/24\/revie-arooj-aftab-paradise-rock-club-9-19\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: AROOJ AFTAB @ PARADISE ROCK CLUB 9\/19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo Credit: Tonje Thilesen\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Review by Miguel Gonzales<\/span><\/p>\n

My senses were overwhelmed. The wind was both still and moving, small gusts of cold wind causing the hairs on my arm to rise. Occasional droplets of rain gently land on my skin, while multiple dots form as the rain seeps through the pavement. Streaks of light emitted through the gray clouds Thursday evening, sitting above the buzzing traffic on Commonwealth Avenue. The night began to settle in.<\/span><\/p>\n

White lights covered the sidewalk and front entrance of the black brick-and-mortar Paradise Rock Club \u2013 but inside was where the party was happening. Drinks were distributed around, and a storm of chatting fogged Paradise while the well-groomed, dressed-up attendees patiently waited for Arooj Aftab. Conversation ensued with audiences, young and old, ranging from their daily occurrences, reminiscing on how life is, and such.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s plenty of old people in the crowd,\u201d an old guy says behind me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Miscellaneous people threw out buzzwords to describe what they make of the musician, composer, and singer: an iconic diva, punk, fierce, stunning. What you make of Arooj Aftab is up to you to decide, but all I know from her performance on September 19th is that Arooj Aftab is the truth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aftab and her backing band walk out around 9:15 p.m., the audience greeting them with a warm welcome, bright cheers, and extensive clapping. Aftab stuns with an all-black look in front of the blue lights, sporting a leather jacket with slightly large framed sunglasses. She brings out a bottle of red wine, pours a decent-sized portion into a wine cup, and drinks from it during intermissions or before beginning a song. Even if Aftab didn\u2019t appear in all-black or sipped on wine on stage, her confident stature, along with the casual attitudes of her backing band, signified they belonged on the stage. The vibes were cool all around.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSuroor\u201d was the first track beginning Aftab\u2019s set, the closer to her 2021 album \u201cVulture Prince.\u201d The nods to minimalism are apparent throughout \u201cSuroor,\u201d but what I loved about Aftab\u2019s band\u2019s performance of the song is how playful and balanced each performer\u2019s playing is. Aftab\u2019s vocals soar, the rhythm section shutters, while the plucking of classical guitar and upright bass are cohesively elegant. Nobody is rushing, and nobody is playing out \u2013 it\u2019s a perfect balance, and the quartet doesn\u2019t give that momentum up for the entire set.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Solos from guitarist Camila Meza and bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere were electrifying \u2013 weaving tastefully, catchy grooves that delicately blend into the buoyant, gorgeous minimalist arrangements. It\u2019s clear Aftab is meticulous with who she chooses to play with when playing her carefully arranged, spacious brand of jazz live \u2013 and they do it justice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The live renditions of \u201cWhiskey\u201d and \u201cNa Gul,\u201d in particular, were truly special. Meza\u2019s guitar-playing equally flutters and takes itself back. Meanwhile, Bell le Pere\u2019s subtle bass plucking naturally elevates the romantic beauty surrounding Meza\u2019s parts, along with the percussion and Aftab\u2019s singing. There is a natural amount of space where Arooj takes the spotlight, where her ghostly vocals float for themselves over the lavish instrumentals \u2013 so much so you can picture what the backing band\u2019s instrumentals and Aftab\u2019s singing are trying to evoke.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bell le Pere\u2019s playing becomes more apparent with the live renditions of \u201cRaat Ki Rani,\u201d \u201cBolo Na,\u201d and \u201cLast Night (Reprise),\u201d where Bell le Pere\u2019s hefty plucking are moments that elevate their respective sounds to be so dynamic. The exciting, life-affirming nature of \u201cRaat Ki Rani,\u201d the fast-paced, intimate \u201cLast Night (Reprise),\u201d and the menacing grunginess of \u201cBolo Na\u201d were incredible to hear live.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just chosen to be here by will because we\u2019re all a bunch of people who love to be in touch with our emotions, and that\u2019s a great thing. It\u2019s very emotionally mature, I have to say guys,\u201d Aftab quips before going into another song.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She\u2019s undeniably hilarious, yet can serenade an audience at the same time with beautiful compositions \u2013 such as ending off the show with a surprising but not-too-surprising encore with \u201cMohabbat,\u201d enchanting the audience one more time before a final send-off with the quartet bowing down.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss out on Arooj Aftab \u2013 if she\u2019s playing in your city, I can guarantee you\u2019re going to have a good time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Opening for Arooj Aftab was Brooklyn-based trombonist and composer Kalia Vandever, who started her set around 8 p.m. She sits close to the front of the stage with a simple set-up \u2013 two microphones (one for her trombone, one for her vocals), a Focusrite audio interface, a pedalboard, and her Macbook Air.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vandever channeled spacious beauty for her 40-minute set, just with her trombone and a resonant voice. Vandever\u2019s extensive usage of loops shimmering reverb while playing trombone and harmonizing was dreamy and free, just wonderful. Vandever describes the things that inspired her to compose these songs \u2013 such as channeling the memories of her grandfather when creating \u201cRecollections From Shore\u201d and a road in Florida she was near during a residency for a new piece she created called \u201cHubbard Road.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Vandever\u2019s meditative sound and contemplative musings intersect with her music lingers over you after she finishes. It\u2019s purposefully slow \u2013 putting you in a position to sit still, feel the drifting atmosphere, and simply transcend in thought.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo Credit: Tonje Thilesen\u00a0 Review by Miguel Gonzales My senses were overwhelmed. The wind was both still and moving, small gusts of cold wind causing the hairs on my arm to rise. Occasional droplets of rain gently land on my skin, while multiple dots form as the rain seeps through the pavement. Streaks of light […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24057,"featured_media":42724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1523,15],"tags":[2089,117],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42849"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24057"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42849"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44226,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42849\/revisions\/44226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}