Arooj Aftab

Arooj Aftab, the Brooklyn-based vocalist fuses traditional Pakistani music, Sufi poetry, ambient soundscapes, and jazz elements into transcendent “songs of elegiac beauty” (The Observer). The multi-hyphenate creative is said to move in sound against the weight of time and convention, honoring multiple traditions while being owned by none. Prepare to be enchanted by her profound attention and exquisite imagination.

Declared “the coolest rock star in the world right now,” by UNCUT magazine, Arooj Aftab has earned her position at the vanguard of creative music for her embrace of risk and nonconformity. In 2024, she released her fourth solo album, Night Reign (Verve), to universal acclaim, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Jazz Album, while the song “Raat Ki Rani” was tabbed for Best Global Music Performance. The album expands on the musical universe Aftab has created over the years. Night Reign features an all- star cast of musicians (Cautious Clay, Vijay Iyer, Elvis Costello, James Franceis, Moor Mother, Joel Ross), united beneath the steady, brilliant hand of the queen of the night. As put by the Wall Street Journal, “[Night Reign’s] beauty is self-evident, and it stands on its own” which helps explain its inclusion across so many Best of 2024 album lists.

Aftab spent her adolescent years in Lahore, Pakistan, the birthplace of her music-loving parents. Her viral cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” at age 18 aided in her passage to study jazz at Berklee College of Music in Boston, while Brooklyn, New York would be her next and most fertile workshop for creation of her genre-defying music.

Over the last few years, she has delivered “rapturous performances” at major venues and international festivals including Primavera, Glastonbury, and Coachella. She has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NPR’s Tiny Desk, Later with Jools Holland, Brodie and Mahogany sessions, among others.

Ensemble members for Arooj Aftab concert are forthcoming

Arooj Aftab photo by Jackie Lee Young