Jaubi permeates the soul. Their music awakens the spirit. It reaches deep within the listeners’ feelings. They do so by drawing on the practices of Sufism, one of the esoteric disciplines of Islam.
“I explore my spirituality and religion through music, that's why all the titles, ‘Nafs At Peace’, ‘A Sound Heart’, ‘Seek Refuge’, ‘Wings of Submission’. These are not titles I have made up, these are titles I got from the English translation of the Quran, you know everything has a hidden meaning to it.”
Jaubi, an Urdu word translating to “whatever/whoever”, meld traditional instruments the Tabla and Sarangi with guitar, keys and flute/sax, varying at their live shows. This results in a genre amorphous sound that spans, yet not limited to, North Indian classical music, modal/spiritual jazz and at times hip-hop.
“Ultimately for me music is communication… to really communicate something without words you have to be able to identify which melody conveys which emotion.”
The band is made up of more than 5 members, the central members being guitarist Ali Raiz Baqar, tabla player Kashif Ali Dhani, sarangi player Zohaib Hassan Khan, multi instrumentalist Edward Cawthome (Tenderlonious) and drummer Tim Carnegie.
The band is often described as a Melbourne/Lahore/London project due to strong connections in each scene. Bandleader Ali, who is Melbourne based with Pakistani heritage, is a self taught guitarist who met Zohaib, who plays the sarangi (a traditional, short-necked, bowed string instrument) in 2013. Frequent improvisation between the pair led to the release of The Deconstructed Ego in 2016.
Fast forward to 2024 and the band released A Sound Heart, with Nafs At Peace releasing in 2021. A Sound Heart is split into two sides, A and B. The sonical and emotional differences between the two sides of the record are evident.
“Ultimately wanted to explore different sides of love. Side A was more upbeat and trying to have fun and then side B was saying this is the person i want to commit, you know settle down and mature, that's why side B is a much more mature side and to be honest I wanted the whole album to be side B but I wanted to have some radio tracks."
The band manages to transmit a certain current with their music. They have the ability to make you feel all the emotions possible across their vast discography. Notably on their most recent offering, A Sound Heart, they transmit beauty in a way that makes the listener stop and feel its depth.
Words by Tommy Boutros