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Premiere: Bilal Teams w/ Pakistan's The Sachal Ensemble For Entrancing & Funky Allen Toussaint Cover
Premiere: Bilal Teams w/ Pakistan's The Sachal Ensemble For Entrancing & Funky Allen Toussaint Cover

Premiere: Bilal Teams w/ Pakistan's The Sachal Ensemble For Entrancing & Funky Allen Toussaint Cover

Premiere: Bilal Teams w/ Pakistan's The Sachal Ensemble For Entrancing & Funky Allen Toussaint Cover

"This track speaks to staying strong and hopeful in spite of adversity and is as important today as it was back then" - Bilal

Tomorrow, a group of Pakistani musicians will recalibrate western perceptions of the country's centuries-long artistic bloodline with the release of the star-studded compilation album, Song Of Lahore; where eastern musicians collide with the best of the west for a righteous cause. Today, we have the pleasure of bringing you the album's very first offering with the premiere of a Bilal-assisted cover of the late Allen Toussaint's "Yes We Can Can," popularized by The Pointer Sisters on their 1973 debut.

Produced by longtime Bilal and Robert Glasper collaborator, Eli Wolf, the track moves and grooves in line with the inspiring original, with Philly's finest stretching out with some soul-smothered vocals and The Sachal Ensemble adding flairs of desert guitar licks, punctuating percussion and whimsical woodwind arrangements. A fine blend of these seemingly distant worlds of musical marvel. Song Of Lahore will also feature the talents of Sean LennonWynton Marsalis, Cibo Mato and a score of others. The album also serves as a soundtrack to documentary of the same name, released late last year and directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Andy Schocken. 

Hear Bilal and Pakistan's The Sachal Ensemble on an entrancing and funky cover of Allen Toussaint's "Yes We Can Can" down below along with the film's trailer. Pre-order your copy of the album on iTunes today.