Jaubi fuses North Indian classical music with jazz (and sometimes hip-hop) while examining the spiritual journey of the soul as described in the holy texts of the Qur’an. The ensemble from Lahore, Pakistan possess an open-minded approach to creating music, with the mindset “whatever sounds good and whatever feels good” as its stated guiding principle. A reinterpretation of J Dilla’s “Time: The Donut of the Heart” turned heads, and caught the attention of London saxophonist Ed “Tenderlonious” Cawthorne and Polish composer Marek “Latarnik” Pędziwiatr. They traveled to Lahore in 2019 to record with Jaubi for two fruitful sessions from which two albums emerged: Tenderlonious’s Ragas From Lahore: Improvisations with Jaubi and Jaubi’s own full-length debut, Nafs at Peace.

The blend of modern western music and traditional Indian ragas was quickly embraced by critics, who sang the band’s praises. “Jaubi pick up the baton passed to them by ’60s and ’70s trailblazers like Don Cherry and Mahavishnu Orchestra, pushing the boundaries of South Asian classical music into new and exciting spaces.” (Pitchfork) The Guardian lauds the record’s “... hip-hop swing to classical ragas and ferocious jazz improvisation…” The Guardian also named Nafs at Peace as one of its Top Ten Global albums for 2021.

Continuing its exploration, Jaubi are set to release a follow-up, A Sound Heart, in the fall and have released this new track as a preview.