Originally from Lahore, Zeb Bangash is acknowledged as one of the most distinctive and authentic voices to originate from the South Asian subcontinent. With her soulful voice and her distinctive balance between tradition and innovation, Zeb has carved a name for herself in both the local and global music scenes. She is one of the first women in Pakistan to gain public recognition as a songwriter/composer.
For the past 15 years, Bangash has been well-known in Pakistan for her performances of material which crosses cultural and linguistic boundaries. She has recorded in languages ranging from Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Farsi, Turkish, Punjabi, Saraiki, and more. She is featured on the soundtracks of a number of Pakistani feature films, including Bin Roye, Ho Mann Jahaan, Manto and Verna; the Bollywood productions Madras Café, Highway and Fitoor; and the TV series Saami, Kösem Sultan, Ek Thi Marium, Tum Mere Paas Raho and Noor Ul Ain. Zeb is the first Pakistani artist to serve as music director of an award-winning Bollywood film, Lipstick Under My Burkha (2016), which has been the recipient of 18 international film awards. Her performance of the song Yar-e-Mann for the soundtrack of the TV series Diyar-e-Dil in 2016 won the Lux Style Award and a HUM Award. Bangash has additionally performed numerous times for the popular Pakistani TV shows Coke Studio and Pepsi Battle of the Bands.
Bangash’s reputation was first built through her critically-acclaimed duo with guitarist Haniya Aslam, Zeb and Haniya. Enjoying an increasingly international solo career, she is currently collaborating with renowned klezmer clarinetist/composer Michael Winograd and a number of other leading Brooklyn-based musicians in the ensemble Sandaraa. The group has recently won prestigious grants from Chamber Music America and the MAP Fund to compose and record music that features the works of eminent Urdu poets from the subcontinent. Their first single, Farz Karo, released at the beginning of 2018, went viral, and their forthcoming songs are slated for release.
Bangash is a student of Ustaad Naseeruddin Saami, a master of the centuries-old Dehli Gharana. Bangash is currently working on a documentary recording of Ustaad Saami with GRAMMY-winning producer Ian Brennan. Bangash has been profiled by international media such as the BBC, TIME, Asia Society, Filmfare Middle East, Rolling Stone India, NPR, The News International, DAWN, and many others.
Sponsored by the South Asian Studies Council and the MacMillan Center at Yale University.