The emphasis is the voice as it sings the stories, the universal unrequited love theme, the Ghazal, the Ballad, the Blues.
Constantly being inspired by new sounds and musical genres, UK vocalist, songwriter, Najma, explores the synergies that resonate with her Asian - British roots by connecting vocal expressions of unrequited love through the waterways of voice, poetry and music.
Based on subtle combinations of Delta blues, World Jazz, Western Folk Music, Irish / Celtic Folk Music, Rock, North African Blues, Sufi, Najma comfortably explores a few selected classic covers with an Indian Vocal twist.
'Five Rivers' is a musical journey that starts in India with the Ganges, to Africa the River Niger, to the UK with the River Thames on to Ireland with the River Shannon and finally ending at the Mississippi Delta.
Jac Holzman, who signed the band 'Love' in the sixties and former owner of Elektra Records, upon hearing Najma's interpretation on the song 'Old Man' wrote, 'Najma, I so enjoyed what you did with Bryans song, one of the unsung gems on Forever Changes. Your take is original, understated and true to the spirit of the original. Most important -- it works!'
Najma's chosen arrangements for guitar, bass, tabla, violin and percussion provide the perfect musical environment for the unique intelligence and sensitivity of her voice, which, whether she sings a ghazal, a ballad or a slow blues, resonates with truth & beauty.
The breadth & depth of Najma's vision of universality is exemplified by her beautiful rendition of Yeat's,"The Song of Wandering Aengus,' (inspired by Donovan's arrangement) Donovan's 'Young Girl Blues' & Jagger / Richard's 'As Tears Go By'.
'Five Rivers' includes imaginative interpretations of compositions by Tim Buckley, Tim Hardin, Bryan MacLean ('Love') & Donovan. Donovan has also expressed his delight at having his songs included in the 'Five Rivers' project.
Known for creating beautiful lilting fusions of eastern and western styles Najma continues to pushes the sound barriers by synergising other eclectic influences to even newer and undiscovered frontiers. Five Rivers is the dynamic and natural progression of Najma's continued exploration of poetic expressions of the west and is a perfect follow up, to her critically acclaimed 2009 collaboration with Grammy nominated guitarist, Gary Lucas 'Rishte' which received phenomenal reviews.
'Rishte' was David Fricke's Pick of the Month in Rolling Stone Magazine and received four stars from Mojo Magazine's Dave Barnes who wrote of it, "Rishte is a vital and red blooded nodding back to Davy Grahams East-West musical explorations, and stands comparison with his best work".
Najma sings not only in Hindi / Urdu / Punjabi but as English is her first language, it allows her to comfortably explore the bi-lingual aspect and the synergies that connect them are multifarious.
Najma's influences, in both time and place flow from the banks of these rivers and her gift is in her recognition of the collective universality of these sources.
Najma, is very excited about this project, as, it is the first time that the poetic emphasis between the Urdu Ghazal and Western poetry has been explored and developed using western musical genres.
Five Rivers Performance reviews
Najma's early Five Rivers performance review
Colston Hall Foyer Gig Review from 13 the Nov 2012 Bristol Post UK - Tony Benjamin