A new kind of groove

[ unedited]

The Lahore-based band co-VEN recently performed at a local café here in Karachi. Co-VEN which incidentally stands for Company of Vicious Earth Navigators are heaped with what one would call pure talent. With the who’s-who of the music industry in full attendance co-VEN performed an acoustic set of their current hit singles Sailing fast, Third world celebrity and Boundaries broken from amongst others singles from their upcoming album and occasionally performed cover-songs as well.

The line up of co-VEN that night consisted of Hamza Jafri on lead vocals and the acoustic guitar, Sikandar Mufti on drums and harmonica, Sameer Ahmed (also a member of the Mekaal Hasan Band) on bass and Omran on the acoustic guitar as well. With the ambience resembling that of a lounge and lights dimmed low, there was an understated feel of festivity in the air.

The performance by the band itself did not seem orchestrated before-hand. They were clearly enjoying themselves and seemed to have moved towards improvisation near the end of their performance. As seasoned musicians they complemented each other’s style of playing well and had most people at the venue gently swaying to their music throughout the performance. Toward the end of it all, Sikandar Mufti’s vocal rendition of Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix was extremely heart-felt and continued to resonate in one’s ear long after the performance.

First Published:
Herald
February 2007