A musical career on the upswing
Still in his early 20s, Saad has traversed a long way on his musical voyage. Though primarily a pianist, he also plays the guitar and used to sing. In Bangladesh till the end of January to catch up with his parents a Bangladeshi father and a British mother, he returns to the UK where he will begin scouting for work.
Right now he is in the midst of providing the piano back up for a Dhaka Stage musical, titled A little night music. To be staged on November 30, the comedy of errors' music and lyrics are by Stephen Sondheim. Saad believes that this is "the hardest work" he has ever done since it requires a high music reading ability. "You have to be on your toes as a musician, you have to have a good understanding of technical, practical application and reading. This is the first intensive work I have done since my university days in Kingston University, UK," asserts Saad.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. In August, Saad participated in a charity concert for Ekmattra at the Russian Cultural Centre in Dhaka. The aim was to raise funds for the abandoned children of sex workers in Bangladesh. Saad accompanied a Japanese French horn player on the piano in the concert. Unfortunately the function was marred by bomb attacks in the country, which led to a greatly reduced audience.
Though Saad calls himself a "rock man", he has eclectic tastes in music. Living in countries such as England, US, Luxembourg, Zambia and Bangladesh at various points of his life, he says, "I have been exposed to many different groups of people with many different tastes in music; different instruments and sounds; and different ways of thinking about music."
Saad has a single goal at the moment: to be a full time musician in London and "make people happy" through his performances. However, as he acknowledges, he has to be on his toes because there is tremendous competition in the musical arena. For starters, he plans to launch a demo CD in Bangladesh because studio time is much cheaper here. The CD will incorporate contemporary bass guitar and piano.
It has been tough going, acknowledges Saad. His university days weren't geared to market or promote himself, he asserts, they were meant to garner experience. "You have to jump in the deep end and get better at doing it," he says. "One has to do a lot of hard work and private study to be able to perform."