On June 9th, Global Arts Live presented a livestream concert by Zeshan B (full name Zeshan Bagewadi). He’s an American of Indian descent. He broadcast from his apartment in Chicago.
Mr. B sang, for the most part, his own songs, and accompanied himself on the harmonium throughout. That instrument gave the songs a wonderful droning undercurrent such as we find in Hind music. It sounds like eternity behind the changing – ie, temporal – lead.
Mr. B’s work is thoughtful and entertaining. He opened singing briefly in vocalese – da da da da. He then broke into a language that I didn’t understand, as he did from time to time throughout the concert. Neither he nor the host (Maure Aronson, Global Arts Live’s ED) saw fit to tell us what that language was. Mr. B’s website, however, tells us that he speaks Urdu and Punjabi.
And then the song – titled Stay – broke into English:
I wanna stay –
Won’t run away –
I wanna play –
Just like we [breaks in falsetto] used to do –
Back in the day.
No more blood on the streets!
A terrific, peaceful, life-affirming song.
Mr. B’s voice was more soulful in the second song, Only in my Dreams:
Don’t wake me up –
Cause you know that I’ve had enough –
I’ll go back to sleep –
Cause this world isn’t what it seems.
The next song was “from the subcontinent”. It’s title, Janimun, which is a term of endearment, is repeated throughout, and then:
Oh, my love, without you –
The sweetest roots have no sweetness –
And I’m left all alone.
He nearly wailed on this song, but still retained enough control of his voice to trill. Terrific!
Our man sang his hit single, Crying in the Streets, a cover of a generic 1970 civil rights song. Mr. B graced the unremarkable song with a sensitive wail.
Mr. B talked with us cordially throughout; he has a personable, relaxed screen presence. He talked about desi (Indian) music, sang a scale and hummed a bit. He showed us his danpura, mentioned ragas, and explained that his songs don’t always come to him in English.
As Mr. Aronson said of the livestream, “Even if it’s not live in person, it’s 100% live.” And it’s great work from Zeshan B!
Author: Steve Capra
