Afghan Rubab with Songbirds

Rahim Khushnawaz (c1947-2011) was one of the great rubab players of Afghanistan. But he comes from Herat rather than Kabul, where the dominant school of this earthy, plucked instrument was based. These recordings were made in 1994 by Veronica Doubleday during a three-week stay in Herat, a couple of years before the Taliban came to power. What's lovely is their intimacy and relaxed nature. In the background there are children, the sounds of everyday life, and the birds.

Afghans love songbirds and Khushnawaz owned canaries, that join in formidably on this disc. Sometimes it seems too much – as on the opening track ‘Rag Shivaranjani’. But Doubleday claims the birds are responding to the music, as they really seem to on ‘Rag Talang’ and ‘Dar Daman-e Sahra am’ (‘I’m on the Edge of the Desert’), where they chime in with the rhythm of the music. I’m not entirely convinced that they are are reacting to the music, but the effect is glorious, particularly when Khushnawaz starts striking the high-pitched chikara drone string on ‘Rag Talang’ and the birds seem to respond.

The birds aside, Khushnawaz is a brilliant performer and the Afghan rubab remains one of the most under-recognised instruments of the world. The last instrumental track pays homage to the nightingale – a more elusive and more musical companion than the canaries that enhance but occasionally distract from the performances on this album.