KARACHI, May 17: Young guitarist Usman Riaz gave an impressive performance at an event titled ‘Adventures of a Lost Boy’ meant to update music lovers about his new projects at T2F on Friday evening.

Mr Riaz started out by informing the audience on what he had been up to lately. He touched on his talks that he had recently given as a Ted Global Fellow in a few countries. He said it helped him mingle with great musicians such as Preston Reed. Briefing music buffs, especially the younger lot who had come in a big number, on what the gist of his talk was, he said it mainly centred on his family background and how he became a musician. This would be followed by a performance.

He mentioned his great grandfather was fond of, and played, music. He said his grandmother played eastern classical music. His own parents were also inclined towards music. They saw potential in him when he was very young. He said he was six when he started playing the piano. It did not take him long to realise that while there were teachers who taught different forms of traditional music, there was no middle ground to explore. So he resorted to the Internet and learned a great deal by watching and listening to hundreds of tracks. Among other things, he got to learn how to play instruments such as the harmonica and incorporated all of that into his first project ‘Circus in the Sky’. He also showed a short film ‘Ruckus’. It revolves around a couple of small-time crooks or thieves who snatch a rich, fat lady’s purse at a railway station. That leads to a series of incidents, ending on a light-hearted note.

After that Mr Riaz played the first track of the evening titled ‘Firefly’. Strumming the guitar with effortless ease and beating the body and neck of the instrument with his right hand to create the beat, the musician enthralled the audience with the wonderful rhythmic patterns of the composition. His use of the open strings was noteworthy in particular; it lent a distinct feel to the urgent note-playing.

Next up was ‘Shimmer’. It was groovier than the first piece and had a romantic texture to it. The controlled and creative ambidexterity of the musician added colour to it.

The first cover of the evening was a Led Zeppelin song. The young musician did justice to the number. He maintained the liveliness of the sound and the affection with which Jimmy Page used to treat his guitar.

Then the musician switched to the piano. The number was called ‘The Waves’. As can be gauged by the name it was to do with the ocean. The composition basically created a certain mood, and that mood was created by virtue of cascading, mellifluous notes carried on a likable melody.

The second cover tune was Preston Reed’s ‘Ladies Night’. The jovial sound of the composition accompanied by foot-tapping was good to listen to. The chord progression was nice as were the tiny solo bits in between.

The final track of the evening was ‘Bone Shaker’ that proved the right number to round off the evening.

As a token of appreciation for the people who had packed the hall in no time, Mr Riaz showed the final cut of his next short film based on the track ‘The Waves’. He said they were going to see a few minutes of the film; it had not been colour-corrected and needed a few post-production touch-ups. Still, the audience enjoyed it.