For most of his life Zahoor performed mainly in dargahs (Sufi tombs/shrines) and festivals, and in the streets. He adopted the folk instrument Ektara (ek= one, tar = string), in its three-stringed version called Tumbi, as his main instrument.
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Munni Begum has a slightly nasal but a cultured voice, which is malleable enough to be employed for the rendition of both the new and classical ghazals written by Urdu poets. Her numerous appearances on the mini screen points to this distinctly individualistic trait of her signing style. Used to self-accompaniment on harmonium, she renders ghazals, mostly in the geet oriented style, with much ease, verve and confidence.
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Abida Parveen is a rarity in the world of Sufi music, a female lead performer. She is one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music.
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Recent times have seen a significant growth in the worldwide popularity of the exotic art of bellydancing and the music associated with it.
Alam Lohar developed a new style of singing the Punjabi Vaar, an epic or folk tale. He is famous for his rendition of Waris Shah’s Heer, which he has memorized in 36 styles and forms. Alongside his God given voice and singing in difficult high and low pitches he had a unique style of singing with his Chimta. Now the Chimta has been around for centuries as it was a tool used in gathering livestock in rural settings or used as a aid in other activities, but Alam Lohar has the unique credit that he singlehandedly popularized this instrument globally and modified its use and changed its outlook. Other than being a famous singer, Alam Lohar was also a great poet writing his own songs and kalaams and also had another quality that he used old books of Sufi saints and stories and brought them in a song format: which gave his songs overwhelming great lyrical content which could make people cry and express joy at the same time. The word “Jugni” was his creation and he created this term from reading many Sufi writings and represented this word as a spiritual feeling of ones experience of the world. Furthermore he was the pioneer of introducing the writings of Saif Ul Mulook and Mirza Shabaan in a song format.
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The legendary singer Mehdi Hasan has been enthralling ghazal lovers for over four decades. Classical music has been, in recent years, elbowed aside by loud, brash tunes and remixes. It is therefore wonderful to experience classical music in all its glory and magnificence. And it is doubly gratifying to know that there are still people who do appreciate such music without turning up their noses and terming it ‘old-fashioned.
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As the sun sets, we have another set of sandhi prakash ragas,the evening counterparts of the pre-dawn ragas. But this time it is a meeting of light and darkness, instead of darkness and light as at dawn, and the difference is reflected in the swaras used. The rishabh and dhaivat are komal as in the corresponding ragas of the morning but these are used in combination with a strong teevra madhyam which signifies great tension waiting for resolution normally provided by the pancham. Marwa and Pooriya are two important examples. The sunset ragas are once again sombre and introspective. Sandhya, or twilight, is also a time for prayer and meditation.
She is an Indian classical singer of the khyal style in the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana.
Salamat Ali Khan was initiated into classical music together with his elder brother Nazakat Ali Khan under the able guidance of their father Ustad Vilayat Ali Khan at the tender ages of five and seven respectively.
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Bhargavi Banerjee is a Bengali modern classical, semi-classical singer and renowned ghazal singer of Kolkata.
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To ride on the popularity of Sufiyana movie music of recent times, this one’s an anthology of vintage Abida Parveen songs which have been remixed by DJ Whosane. The perennial favourites, Naraye Mastana and Hairaan Hua, strike a chord essentially because of the soulful Sufi poetry.
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This volume features the great legends Bismillah Khan and Rais Khan as they interfaced for the first time at Swar Utsavs inaugural night. The opening item at the concert was the magical shehnai-sitar duet as the maestros rendered the ever auspicious raga Yaman Kalyan in all its celebratory splendour.
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This album is focusing on Abdulrahman Surizehi both as a performing artist on Benju and a composer and arranger of contemporary melodies. As the titles indicate, this album is a blend between contemporary songs and folk songs - about half of each. The Balochi music is related to the musical traditions of southern Afghanistan, western Pakistan and eastern Iran, and has its very distinctive scales and rhythms.
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The mid-day sun ushers in the Sarang group of ragas which are all bright, vivid and lively. The pathos and gravity of the early morning ragas is quite dispelled by the bright sunshine, and the earlier introspectiveness seems to give place to a more direct view of life and nature.
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This is not the first time that Faiz Ali Faiz has attempted to combine qawwali and flamenco. His 2 CD and DVD ‘Qawwali-Flamenco’ with Duquende, Miguel Poveda and Chicuelo was interesting but the two different styles remained fairly distinct.
This time round the result is much more cohesive, perhaps due to the lack of Spanish vocals? Titi Robin is a French musician who plays ‘gypsy’ music on guitar and bouzouq. There is also some clarinet, accordion and cor anglais; the rest of the musicians are basically a qawwali band - harmonium, tabla, clapping and backing vocals.
