Live Performance Review: Homayun Sakhi Trio (Edinburgh International Festival (E.I.F.) 2012), Friday 17.08.2012 17:45, Greyfriars Kirk (Unreserved Seating), Edinburgh (Preceded By Homayun Sakhi Trio: Masterclass (Edinburgh International Festival (E.I.F.) 2012), Thursday 16.08.2012 14:30, Main Hall, The Hub (Unreserved Seating), Edinburgh 

This is a performance I took a punt on knowing nothing of the music beforehand. The Trio is centred around Homayun Sakhi playing the Rubab, and he is accompanied by Salar Nadar on Tabla and Abbos Kosimov on Doyra. The Rubab is a traditional Afghan string instrument that dates back over two thousand years. It is the Rubab that was taken to the Indian region and became adapted slightly to create the Sarod as practiced by Amjad Ali Khan.

I felt that the masterclass felt unnecessarily staged, with there being someone present who was involved in organising it to ask the musicians clearly prearranged questions. The Tabla player had lived in California as long as he could remember, and he could have dealt with the this aspect and lead the explanations, this may have helped in it feeling less stilted. I also felt it could have been more informative, though having said this, the explanation given as to the similarities and differences between the Rubab and Sarod, felt quite satisfying. The introductory pieces played during the masterclass did though wet the appetite for the concert the following day.

I had never been to a concert in Grayfriars Kirk before. It is a splendid venue for this sort of concert. The sun was streaming through the window and dancing just in front of the musicians. The performance itself was flawlessly sublime; all three musicians and how they melded together were exceptional. I closed my eyes for most of the performance to steep myself in the extraordinary sound. When I close my eyes I always see colourful patterns. With this music being performed it was a very pleasant mix of reds, greens, bright yellows and bright whites. The patterns change/move with changes in the music, and the movement of the patterns was occurring at a pleasing low frequency. It felt to be both a privilege and a pleasure to bear witness to this event. I'm very happy with the punt I took, and it served as a great reminder (not that I needed it) of why I love music and particularly live music so much.

Rating (without hesitation): 10/10.