Pakistani singer Rameez Mukhtar, left, performs with US Ari Roland at a concert sponsored by the American embassy in Islamabad.
Islamabad - Carrots haven't worked with Pakistan. Neither have sticks. Now the US has enlisted the power of jazz music to improve relations with Pakistanis at a time when the important alliance has hit rock bottom.
The Ari Roland Jazz Quartet certainly faced a daunting task. The US has spent billions of dollars over the past 10 years to win Pakistan's support in fighting al-Qaeda and Taliban militants and turn around rampant anti-American sentiment in the country. Now, Congress is threatening to cut off funding given the lack of results.
The performances are part of a recent stepped-up effort by the US Embassy to sponsor cultural events in Pakistan. Already this year, an American director has staged Neil Simon's play “The Odd Couple.” The embassy also plans to bring over a country rock band and a hip hop group as well as American documentary filmmakers who will give workshops to Pakistanis.
The jazz quartet from New York City arrived in Pakistan about two weeks ago for a series of concerts and music classes with local musicians. The trip culminated with a live recording of a “friendship song” with a Pakistani rock band during a concert on Tuesday night.
But relations between the two countries have been anything but friendly during their trip.
Only two days before the musicians got here, militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles at the US Embassy and NATO headquarters in Afghanistan, killing seven Afghans in an attack that the top US military officer said was carried out by fighters supported by Pakistan's main spy agency.
Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also blamed the Inter-Services Intelligence agency for helping militants from the Pakistan-based Haqqani network who carried out a recent truck bombing in Afghanistan that wounded 77 American soldiers.
Pakistan's leaders have lashed out in response, warning the US that the allegations in Washington could destroy the alliance between the two countries. The accusations have also sparked a fresh wave of anti-American anger in the local media and among ordinary Pakistanis.
Talk about a tough audience for a music group.
But Ari Roland, an energetic double bass player, and his band members, two saxophonists and a drummer, didn't show any hesitation when they took the stage in front of several hundred people seated in a small outdoor auditorium in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.
Mostly dressed in suits and ties, the band played several jazz standards, such as Louis Armstrong's “What a Wonderful World” and George Gershwin's “Summertime.” They also invited a Pakistani musician onstage who played tabla, traditional percussion instruments that look like bongo drums.
The crowd cheered as the tabla player accompanied them on several Pakistani songs, his fingers flying up and down like pistons over the drums. The energy hit its peak as the crowd sang along to “Jazba-e-Junoon,” or “Spirit of Passion,” a patriotic song by the Pakistani rock band Junoon.
There was plenty of bilateral good cheer, but the group's performances, which also took place in the cities of Karachi and Lahore, will likely do little to win over Pakistanis. The crowds have been small and largely made up of elite Pakistanis who are more likely to have positive attitudes toward the US.
Across the country, only 12 percent of Pakistanis have a favourable view of the US, and 69 percent see the country as an enemy, according to a poll this year by the US-based Pew Research Centre. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4
percentage points.
Attitudes haven't improved even though the US has given Pakistan roughly $20 billion in military over the past 10 years and has pledged $7.5 billion in economic aid to help build things like schools, hospitals and power plants.
Momentum to cut off or reduce funding began growing this year following the covert US raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a garrison town not far from Islamabad. Bin Laden's hiding place sparked suspicions among many US officials even though the government hasn't found evidence that senior Pakistani leaders knew he was there.
The Pakistani government was outraged by the May 2 operation because it wasn't told about it beforehand.
Relations plunged to a new low following Mullen's allegations about Pakistan's spy agency helping the Haqqani network. The US has long accused the ISI of having ties to the group, which is based in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area, but this was the first time officials publicly linked the agency to attacks against Americans. - Read more on: http://www.pretorianews.co.za/us-uses-music-to-improve-pakistan-relations-1.1148259
Ari Roland Quartet performed at Tran Ming Tuan's Jazz n Art Club in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam. Their Vietnam tour, which included concerts, educational workshops and performances with Vietnamese musicians, was sponsored by the US Dept. of State and The US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.
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