70 years of Pak-German ties celebrated.

KARACHI -- To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Pakistan-German friendship, the Goethe Institute in collaboration with the Consulate General of Germany in Karachi on Sunday evening organised a concert featuring eminent sitar player Ustad Ashraf Sharif Khan and German musicians Patrycjusz Baumann (keyboard) and Janosch Pangritz (drums) in the consulate's verdant lawn.

Introducing to the audience the kind of music that the band had prepared for the event, Ustad Ashraf Sharif Khan said it's going to be a combination of Pakistani folk tunes and German compositions. The first piece that they played was 'Dance in Lahore'. It was a nice little number with a groovy baseline and a foot-tapping beat. The attendees - in the beginning at least - were a little shy to sway or move to the rhythm, though the track had ample in it to elicit that.

Next up was a composition called 'July in Berlin'. Like its predecessor, it was a piece that primarily had to do with ambience enhanced by quality musicianship.

The artists switched gear to show their versatility with 'The mood of the desert'. As the ustad mentioned, it had that desert feel to it, but what made the tune special was the long notes played on the sitar...