Band Baja Celebrating South Asian Life In Toronto

BAND BAJA
Celebrates South Asian Life in Toronto
Monday to Friday • 2PM to 3PM • 770AM

In the blink of an eye we can communicate with anyone in the world. In this century we can travel like never before. Millions of us are on the move – for work, and play.

Band Baja celebrates South Asian life in Toronto - the music we listen to, the movies we love, and the events that touch our daily lives. From the beginning, we have enjoyed the support and sponsorship of a number of brand leading corporations such as Rubicon, Surati Sweets, Bell Canada, Royal Bank, ICICI Bank of India, Toyota, Ford and General Motors. Like our sponsors, we have become leaders in the South Asian radio market.

Hit music, fireside discussions, poetry readings, traffic updates, interviews and live news and culture updates from Toronto, South Asia and the World, make up the Band Baja experience. It’s a “no borders” programme for the entire South Asian community, where Bollywood tracks spin alongside Lollywood classics.

Five years ago, Moin Jamal, media veteran and founder of Ad Asia Advertising, started Band Baja with a very simple concept - if you create a good radio programme, people will listen. We started small, very small, in the middle of the night, once a week. As time flew by, cab drivers, shift workers and a host of others spread the word about the new music show called Band Baja and our audience grew. It wasn’t long before we Band Baja became the ‘go to’ programme for Toronto’s burgeoning South Asian Community, and we expanded to two hours during prime time Drive Home. From the very beginning, we have been blessed with community support

A recent independent poll conducted by a mainstream media company rated Band Baja as the number one programme in it’s popularity with both in the Indian and Pakistani communities for it’s style of presentation, branding power and innovative, creative programme content. We also put our money where our mouth is and act with a social conscience. Within hours of the Pakistan Earthquake, Band Baja organized an impromptu fundraising drive. We collected over $22,000 in just 2 short hours. Our initiative and the voice of our listeners was heard and later that week, other programs joined in.

What sets us apart from the pack? One of the main reasons is our Host and Creative Director, Moin Jamal. An award winning jingle composer and copywriter in Pakistan and Toronto he has applied the knowledge gained in the world of advertising to radio. First off - he sounds right. With a scholarly background from Lucknow, and wealth of knowledge in poetry, Moin is also an accomplished singer and composer. His wealth of musical knowledge is married to a keen sense of what it takes to make the songs we love take shape and form. Being a artist himself, Moin understands the trials and tribulations of both the composer and the performer. The result is a fascinating analysis of both the music we love and the artists who create it.

Another strength that Band Baja gains from Moin Jamal is what we call the poetry corner. Each week we present to our listeners poems from some of the greatest of Urdu literature - all spoken with fire and perfect diction. A rarity in the world of ‘pop radio’

Band Baja is a programme of properly spoken Urdu without a hint of regional accent. Our choice to use Urdu as the language spoken as opposed to Hindi is also another reason why we bear such fruit and makes further sense of our no borders concept. Urdu is inclusive and understood by South Asians everywhere.

None of this is by accident. We have spent years learning the craft of making great radio and are always striving to stand out from the pack and provide the kind of quality show the public demand. We are informative but not preachy, current but not faddish. For two hours you can put your busy day aside and enjoy the spirited discussions, poetry, music, and inside information that is Band Baja


“Art without borders,” is our mantra.

Band Baja – The Global Traveler - Celebrating South Asian Life in Toronto

For further information, sponsorship information and interviews, please contact:

Band Baja Radio
Moin Jamal • 416.839.6040 • mailto:moinj@rogers.com
• 416.650.0870 • bandbajaradio@gmail.com

Jaagi Khosboo Teri

This is video of me doing one of my favorite songs. The song is a composition created by myself and Karim Shaabuddin. The lyrics are by none other than the great Seba Aktar.
Enjoy

The phones are ringing for Rafi Sahib

Today the phones made their mark. From a trickle to a steady stream - It's great to know that our listeners are starting to find us. Today was top Friday's 'pick of the week' and I got to play Raffi Sahib - a favorite of mine and a classic example of what we call the Evergreen Singer.

"Tu kahin aas paas hai dost" (You are some where around, my friend) - the last song sung by Mohammed Rafi sums up what millions of music lovers feel about this legendary playback singer

He was among the most imitated singers of Indian cinema, passed away on July 31, 1980 at the age of 56. Even some of the other legendary singers like Mahendra Kapoor and the south's K.J. Yesudas all count Rafi Sahib as a major inspiration to their own work.

Much has been written about his versatility - and he recorded about 26,000 songs in his lifetime. Music director Ravi who brought us some of Rafi's biggets hits like "Chaudahvin Ka Chand" (title song, 1960), "Choo Lene Do Naazuk Hothon Ko" ("Kajal", 1965) and "Bhari Duniya Mein Aa kar Dil" ("Do Badan", 1966) said "There was never a singer and never will there be another like him. I challenge any singer today to do a repeat of anything that Rafisaab did,"

Having Band Baja back on the air is great. The station is a pleasure to work in and we are thrilled to be back with a 'bang' I missed it

Band Baja is Back on 1690AM

We are proud to announce that we are now back and ready to entertain the community in Toronto. Tune in Today on 1690AM from 2 to 4PM to hear all your evergreen favs and the newest that Bollywood and Lollywood have to offer! A big Thank you to all the supporters of Band Baja - It would never happen without you!

Regards, Moin Jamal