Arooj Aftab at Billboard Live Tokyo, October 28th 2025

 

When I first listened to Night Reign, the second and most recent album by Arooj Aftab, I immediately knew that I was listening to the best album of 2024. It’s eerie and mysterious and yet accessible without making concessions. It felt like an artistic statement. Confident and very unique sounding, unlike anything else. The album defies genres, you can’t call it World Music, Jazz or Hip Hop and yet it has elements of each. I then revisited her collaboration with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily, Love in Exile and was reminded of its vast soundscapes and the way that the electronic and acoustic instruments blend with Aftab’s voice to create this tapestry of sound that slowly builds itself throughout lengthy tracks. The album, as hinted by the collaborators background, has strong jazz/experimental attributes. I’d say that her masterpiece, though, is Vulture Prince. There’s the balance between accessibility and experimentation, but in this earlier album she seems to be taking far more risks, introducing her sound to the world. The songs take their time building atmosphere and reaching transcendence. Night Reign does it as well, but there’s a comforting element, a soothing element on that one. Vulture Prince is slightly more visceral, it hits harder.                        

There’s a video on YouTube of her performing Raat Ki Rani at Glastonbury, captivating a massive audience in the middle of the day. It’s quite a contrast between the minimalism of her music and the festival crowd. It goes to show that true artistry shines anywhere in spite of the circumstances and, as this blog advocates, great music is best experienced live. I’m sure most people in that audience were in awe.

When it was announced that she was coming to Japan for the first time I definitely had to get tickets. It was my first time at Billboard Live in Roppongi. The venue is in the same style as Blue Note, just a tad bigger and perhaps fancier. We got really good seats near the stage. I was at the first set on the first day.

At exactly 5:30 she walked to the stage joined by a trio of musicians. Zwelakhe Duma Bell le Pere on bass, Engin Gunaydin on drums and Gyan Riley on guitar, yes, the son of Terry Riley, who was in the audience that evening and it was acknowledged by Aftab during the show. I wonder how he felt about the complete trip that his Indian inspired minimalism he made to become one of the main influences on a Pakistani artist, with his son on guitar. That’s quite a trip!

The show started with Suroor off of her Vulture Prince album, with its plucked double bass intro and guitar flourishes. It then developed into a tune with a definite Indian subcontinent flavor once the percussive elements joined in. It was a great opening to the show. For the get go the main stunner was her voice. She not only replicates the incredible vocals for her album, she improves on them. In a live setting we’re talking about an hour and twenty minutes of constant goosebumps. There’s that word "transcendence" again.

We were treated to renditions of Whiskey and Last Night (Reprise), both sang in English and from her latest album. As well as Aey Nehin and the trip hoppish Bolo Na also from the Night Reign album, both of which had Keita Ogawa from Snarky Puppy as a guest percussionist. Of course we were treated to Raat Ki Rani as well and also to a song from her first album. I was ecstatic to hear two favorites from Vulture Prince, Saans Lo and Mohabbat, which was the night's closer. Both of these are prayers, in the way that A Love Supreme is a prayer. They reach spiritual heights that reminds us of our place in the universe. It might sound like hyperbole, but this was an unforgettable concert experience.
 
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