Patari releases “The Gulmit Anthem” by Bulbulik Music School

Patari, a Pakistani music streaming app, has released “The Gulmit Anthem” performed by students of Bulbulik Music School in upper Hunza. The track was released on Patari’s website as part of its new music series called Fanoos which is produced and directed by Zohaib Kazi.

Patari had earlier announced that it is featuring two artists from Gilgit-Baltistan for the very first time on its website. Patari had formerly no music from entire Gilgit-Baltistan, however, with the two musicians made part of a series which has so far been well received, there seems to be some hope for G-B based musicians.

The original song  žu Dur žu jon was written by Wakhi poet Nazir Ahmed Bulbul.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/322393955″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Bulbulik Music School is part of the Bulbulik Heritage Center in Gulmit which is working on reviving the lost Wakhi music. The band has performed at various big events like Music Mela, Hunza Cultural Festival, and Folk Mela at Lok Virsa in Islamabad.

Islam Habib Hunzai is another artist from Gilgit-Baltistan who will be featured in Patari’s Fanoos. The next episode of the music series is expected to be released in the coming week.

Despite having diverse and rich folk music, Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral (GBC) has not been given the deserved coverage; be it the commercially launched musicals like Coke Studio or independent music initiatives. Artists like Irfan Ali Taj, Salman Paras and others have been trying to make some waves with their personal efforts but it is about time the music of the mountains gets recognized at bigger arenas.

Listen to The Gulmit Anthem on Patari