KARACHI The second and final day of the Tahzeeb Music Festival 2009 proved just as memorable for music lovers as the first day at Hindu Gymkhana on Saturday.

The event started off with the performance of a National Academy of Performing Arts graduate, Nadir Abbas, with Waqas Gulab on the tabla. Nadir, who also teaches at Napa, displayed nice voice control and was appreciated by the audience.

What followed was an extraordinary recital by two brothers from Hyderabad, Zulfiqar Ali and Mazhar Husain. Apart from being a top-notch classical musician, Zulfiqar Ali does a lot of research work. He presented Shah Latif's sur Rano and prior to it narrated the tale of Moomal Rano to the attendees. By virtue of his awe-inspiring rendition you could feel the fluctuating fortunes of the tale's protagonists, on occasions creating a gloomy ambience and other painting a rapturous scene. Brilliant!

Zulfiqar Ali's a little more than 30-minute piece also contained Misri Shah's kafi (which he said he is going to do in the form of the tappa) and impressed everyone present. He was helped on stage by Mian Najam (harmonium), Abid Husain (tabla), Mohammad Ali (dhol) and Kamran Husain (tanpura). The knowledge, talent and services of this man should be utilised on a state level, it will do society the world of good.

As if it was not enough to enthrall music buffs, then came Ustad Bashir Khan and his brother Ustad Nazir Khan with their tablas and played a heart-warming 17-matra taal. Nazir Khan kept explaining the difficult aspects of the art making the audience not only enjoy but understand their performance better. However, it was Bashir Khan's dexterous hands that received thunderous applause.

This was followed by Ustad Raza Ali Khan's impressive act. The ustad is the grandson of none other than the legendary Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, and had flown in from India to partake in the festival. Witnessing him sing was a rare privilege, and his raag kaushak dhani, raag hameer and a famous thumri were masterfully done.

A lot of people had also gathered to see tabla nawaz Ustad Abdul Sattar Tari in full swing. And he did not disappoint them when he accompanied Ustad Nafees Khan and his brother Raees Khan for an entertainment-fraught sitar-violin-tabla jugulbandi. Though the sitar and violin playing was of no lesser quality, it was Ustad Tari's tremendous playing that hogged the limelight. He performed, behaved and acted like a rock star and seemed to garner a great many fan-following than before.

Rustam Fateh Ali Khan's recital was the last performance of the festival. He is the son of Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, and nephew of the great late Ustad Amanat Ali Khan. He hails from the Patiala gharana. Rustam presented a raag that his uncle and father used to play. He was accompanied on stage by Abdul Sattar Tari (tabla) and Zoheb Hasan (sarangi).