Jaubi continues the Nafs journey, which commenced with the well received single ‘Satanic Nafs’ (featuring the remix by legendary LA producers The Gaslamp Killer & Mophono) released in March 2021. Now Jaubi draws on the elements of North Indian classical music, Hip-Hop and modal/spiritual jazz in their debut LP entitled ‘Nafs At Peace’.

This journey officially began back in April 2019 when London’s multi- instrumentalist and 22a Record label boss Ed “Tenderlonious” Cawthorne and Polish pianist/composer Marek “Latarnik” Pędziwiatr of EABS/Błoto, visited the group to record in Lahore, Pakistan. Together they channelled their personal struggles at that time into the two recording sessions allowing the musicians to find a spiritual path to transcendence through this musical purge. Nothing whatsoever was written down during the recording sessions – no sheet music and no song titles, which allowed the six musicians to forget about their worldly issues. In many ways, the journey represents an expression of gratitude and an acknowledgement that the musician’s inspiration comes from a higher power. The album cover portrays the mother of Jaubi’s bandleader, tearfully praying to God to get her son through that dark period of his life. The album title ‘Nafs At Peace’ refers to the last purification step the self has been through.

“An exploration about finding peace within oneself”

I was completely blown away after hearing ‘Nafs at Peace’. What’s the story behind it?

Ali Riaz Baqar: ‘Nafs At Peace’ is an exploration about finding peace within oneself. The actual title is taken from a verse in the Holy Qu’ran (Surah Al-Fajr) and refers to the last purification step the self has been through. At this level, the Self no longer struggles because one has complete love of God, by becoming at peace and tranquil with God’s will.

The album cover portrays my mother tearfully praying to God because when I was going through a dark period in my life, all I would see every morning for 2 years is her praying to God to help me. Mashallah, that dark period has surpassed however the album was recorded during my time of personal struggle and tribulation. I couldn’t pray directly to God, but music was my way of connecting to a higher power. Music became a form of therapy and catharsis.

<a href="https://jaubi.bandcamp.com/album/nafs-at-peace">Nafs at Peace by Jaubi</a>

The concept for the album actually came much later in the journey, when the album was being mixed and mastered. When I listened to the masters, I tried to remember what I was feeling at that time. I was deeply into eastern philosophies and Islamic psychology so that’s how the actual concept of “Nafs” came about. It was discovered whilst reading and trying to rediscover myself.

According to the press sheet, London flautist/saxophonist Tenderlonious (Ruby Rushton) and polish pianist Marek Latarnik Pędziwiatr (EABS / Błoto) visited Jaubi in Lahore, Pakistan during April 2019. How did that come about?

Tenderlonious previously collaborated with Astigmatic Records and travelled to Poland to record on EABS’ beautiful album entitled ‘Slavic Spirits’. After that trip, he wanted to fulfil his ambition of exploring Ragas and expressed an interest of travelling to India. Much like his musical heroes John Coltrane and Yusef Lateef – who were both inspired by eastern spiritualism and the deep tradition of Indian classical music – Tenderlonious has always been searching for something different and much deeper. Łukasz Wojciechowski from Astigmatic Records suggested to 22a Records that they travel to Pakistan instead and play Ragas with us in Lahore. Once everyone agreed, then the long process of arranging the trip began.

Their families and friends regularly fed them articles about why it is dangerous to travel to Pakistan due to the risk of terrorism, kidnappings, tropical diseases, etc. – the list was endless. The Pakistani embassy also showed resistance by rejecting their visas. Twice! The project felt destined for failure, however 22a and Astigmatic persevered with the Lahore dream and through many hours of hard work and planning they arrived in Lahore on the 9th of April 2019.

So, the idea behind making a record together was born in Lahore, Pakistan?

Tenderlonious’ album with us entitled ‘Ragas from Lahore: Improvisations with Jaubi’ was conceived in London, however the idea to record our album was born in Lahore, just through all of us being in the studio together.

<a href="https://tenderlonious.bandcamp.com/album/ragas-from-lahore-improvisations-with-jaubi">RAGAS FROM LAHORE – improvisations with Jaubi by Tenderlonious</a>

“All egos were left behind”

There aren’t many records that successfully capture different genres and cultures. I think ‘Nafs at Peace’ turned out perfectly. What was the creative process?

Nothing whatsoever was written down during the recording sessions – no sheet music, no song titles. It was sincere. All egos were left behind and hearts and souls were open and poured into the music. We had no idea what the music would sound like, however everyone was sincere and well intentioned to the music. Sincerity is the essential quality that guards our hearts and protects us from evil spiritual forces. The spiritual vibe was manifested through hearing the Adhan (Muslim call to prayer) when we took breaks on the rooftop of the Lahore studio or by lighting incense sticks in the studio.

With that preamble, each song was composed in a particular scale or based in Raga to convey a certain emotion. The first step of the creative process was I would create a melody within the selected raga and then presenting the melody of each song to everyone else in the recording studio. Then after the rhythm section was happy, came working out the order of soloing. After that we would record and figure out where the song would take us.

All the songs except for the title track were composed either in the studio or the night before recording. Most of the songs didn’t have titles when we recorded them. The album’s title track was the last song we recorded together as a collective and that was the only song where the title and sound of the song was decided before entering the studio.

How was it to collaborate with Tenderlonious and Marek Latarnik Pędziwiatr?

It was such a great experience collaborating with them. When you are playing with musicians of the calibre like Tenderlonious and Latarnik, your own playing improves. Their level of musicianship is extremely advanced and their approach to our music came from a place of sincerity. They had no egos and only cared about the music. Collaborating with The Vox Human Oslo chamber choir was a similarly enjoyable experience.

Would you like to talk a bit about your background? When did you begin playing music? What was your first instrument? Who were your major influences?

I am a self-taught musician having had three formal lessons but I use music as a form of expression. I started making sampled hip hop beats in early 2000’s and then accidentally purchased a guitar whilst spontaneously walking into a music shop back in 2004. If it wasn’t for walking into the music store, I probably would never have played an instrument. I started playing nylon string guitar and was drawn to Flamenco however it was too technically difficult for me. I eventually discovered jazz and rediscovered North Indian Classical music and now solely play the electric guitar.

My major influences back then were people like Flamenco guitarist Paco De Lucia, D’Angelo and J Dilla however my major influences now are my guru Buddhadev Dasgupta, Bill Evans, John Coltrane and Bach.

Can you elaborate on the formation of Jaubi?

Jaubi was formed when I met Zohaib Hassan Khan (Sarangi player) in a recording studio in 2013. We formed a great relationship and slowly the other members of the band were introduced in 2014. Jaubi was never meant to be a band because it was formed spontaneously but we had recorded a few songs and decided to release them in 2016. I thought after releasing it (‘The Deconstructed Ego’) that the band would dissolve but to our surprise there was a good response.

What does the name “Jaubi” refer to in the context of the band name?

Jaubi is the Urdu word for “whatever/whoever”. It is a commonly used word. We decided to use that word and create whatever sounds good and whatever feels good.

Would you say there’s a certain creed or even a concept behind your music?

Not really. The only concept would be being sincere to our instruments and exploring different emotions through matching scales or ragas. Lately however, as I am reading deeply about Eastern philosophies that knowledge will likely form the concept for the next album.

I’ve also been enjoying a lot of ‘Satanic Nafs’ (with The Gaslamp Killer & Mophono REMIX).

Thanks! In Islamic philosophy, each person has an aspect of the Self called the “Nafs” which is divided into multiple layers. Every day, a person enters into a spiritual battlefield with their dark side, their lowly desires, and Satan. Satanic Nafs is thus the lowest level of the self, due the love of oneself and evil desires. Achieving spiritual transformation involves a constant struggle against the lower nature of the self (Satanic Nafs).

<a href="https://jaubi.bandcamp.com/album/satanic-nafs-with-the-gaslamp-killer-mophono-remix">Satanic Nafs (with The Gaslamp Killer & Mophono REMIX) by JAUBI</a>

Gaslamp Killer (GLK) has played our music in the past but credit once again goes to Łukasz Wojciechowski from Astigmatic Records for facilitating the collaboration with GLK and Mophono. Also shout out to the Melbourne artist A.Kid for doing a dope job on the artwork!

What are some future plans?
22a are trying to bring us to UK to perform however Covid is likely to cause delays. In the interim, I am preparing material for our next album which would be more planned and worked out compared to ‘Nafs at Peace’. Inshallah, we can have the opportunity to collaborate with other artists and contribute to other people’s projects. I would love to explore choral and chamber music and somehow incorporate Gregorian chants.

Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

So many favourite albums but the ones that I always go back and listen to are
Makaveli – ‘The 7 Day Theory’
Paco De Lucia – ‘Siroco’
Marvin Gaye – ‘What’s Going On’
John Coltrane – ‘A Love Supreme’
Bill Evans – ‘Waltz for Debby’
Joe Henderson – ‘Power to The People’

Some new discoveries are
Allysha Joy – ‘Acadie: Raw’
Horatio Luna – ‘Boom Boom’
Nick Walters – ‘Active Imagination’
Ashley Henry – ‘Beautiful Vinyl Hunter’
Slowspin – ‘Soulspins’

Thank you for taking your time. The last word is yours.

Thank you to God and everyone involved in this journey. Much love to our brothers Tenderlonious, Latarnik and the family at 22a and Astigmatic. Special thanks to Uzma Rao, Farhad Humayun and Khalid Salimi. We hope all can achieve the stage of ‘Nafs At Peace’ … Inshallah.

Klemen Breznikar

Jaubi Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / YouTube
Astigmatic Records Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / YouTube / SoundCloud
22a Music Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / SoundCloud