KARACHI: A renowned Jazz band of the United States known as ‘Ari Roland Jazz Quartet’ landed in the provincial capital on Thursday on its 15-day visit under the American Festival of Arts, of the US State Department. The band leader Ariel Roland, accompanied with his fellows Keith Bella, Christopher Byars and Zaid Naseer, said in a round table with media persons that it was his second visit to Pakistan and he likes Pakistani music due to its deepness, complication and beauty. Roland shed light on the diversity and beauty of Sufi music. He was of the view that emotions behind music are common across the world. He said that they met several students in Pakistan and found them cooperative. Roland further said that during their visit they would stay in Karachi for five days conduct workshops, interact with art students and perform at several venues, before leaving for Islamabad and Lahore where they would perform for five days in each city. He announced that during their visit, the band in collaboration with a Pakistani musical band ‘Fuzon’ would produce a ‘friendship’ song. He further said that the major aim behind their visit was to connect people. During his conversation he also shared his experiences and shed light on music in the US. Later while interacting with media persons, band members said that they were hoping to learn a lot during the visit. They called themselves Jazz ambassadors and were of the view that music had the power to stop wars and unite people. It is pertinent to mention here that the American Festival of Arts will be kicked off through their visit and in near future, several music and performing art delegations will visit the country under the festival. The US Consulate Information Officer Amanda Cauldwell and Cultural Affairs Officer Tony Jones were also present on the occasion. asad farooq
