The art of Qawwali

I`ve heard RM too. They`re pretty good! They even came to Minneapolis close to where I live but I couldn`t go...exams! I guess some other time...

I think we can carry this tradition forward in a number of ways:

1. Create a Qawwali training institute that would bring the top qawwals in Pakistan and make them ``professors`` to pass on these skills. Basically a more formalized process of teaching should be created.

2. There should be an acceptance of other music genres by qawwals, so that emerging qawwals don`t just do traditional qawwali but get involved in other forms of music using their traditional training, sort of like what Mekaal Hasan Band is doing.

3. Once these two things get established, we need to convince parents that artists like qawwals, guitarists, etc. are not ``immoral`` or ``worthless`` or ``worse off`` compared to other professions like being a marketing executive or doctor, etc.

And all Chowkies should buy Sampooran and listen to Darbari by Jawad Bashir...it will prove that qawwali is still alive!

Re: # 11

there are young qawwals who are quite good. rizwan-muazzam (sons of mujahid ali khan) and asif ali khan come to mind.
rizwan-muazzam have done some modern-experimental stuff, but i`m too old to appreciate it.

Qawwali is an effective way of killing mosquitoes too.

jibran,
to me nusrat is simply incomparable. the london concert series on navras is also excellent. what do you think of his nephew, rahat?

#6

Agreed. some movie qawwalis are alright, as songs and indeed i do rather like ishq ishq - hence the caveat.

#7

well snake, i think some of Nusrats earlier renditions are birlliant, he had a very forceful and mellifulous (sp) style, that lent it self particularly well to punjabi kafis, like those of bulleh shah, (and the more rarely sung) madhu lal shah hussain. The recording in paris especially comes to mind, which i think was around the early 90s when nusrat was at his best.
so yeah, i think he had great talent and some of his proper qawwalis remain my favourites.

Jibran:

Good to read about a dying form of music. What made the qawwali accessible, despite the classical notes, was the element of trance. The repetition is like a mantra intoned to reach a crescendo.

I will, howver, not dismiss the use of qawwali in the more popular media -- a large part of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan`s success was due to his working around the Khusrau-esque dimensions.

I can recall the Sabri brothers singing without any musical accompaniment, and as I have said earlier the Shankar-Shambhu duo sang Sufiana kalaams with as much devotion as Ustad Bismillah Khan being inspired by the Ganges.

There have been good singers who had to give in to prevalent tastes...I had interviewed Aziz Nazaan (``Jhoom barabar jhoom sharabi``!) and Jani Babu and they spoke about these compromises.

But, I confess...when I watch re-runs of `Barsaat ki raat`, I do not quite cringe listening to, ``Yeh Iskk ishk hai, ishk ishk...``!

Qawwali is indeed a precious legacy for the people of sub-continent especially Punjab. It has no replacement anywhere else in the world.

It needs to be saved.....

So, let`s talk about what is threatenning it`s life and what can be done?

Threats:

- Our intellectual prejudice that indigenous things are associated with backwardness and hinder progress, so even if they move us, let`s not indulge in them and get `practical` and `progressive`.

- Insignificant centralized effort on a national level to spend on and sustain the elements of our heritage. No systemetic teaching (e.g. in universtities).

- Denouncement from hardline Islam which sees these things as pollutants in the pure pond of islam.

- Lack of suitable and practical venues where this art can be enjoyed by masses. We only have recordings of TV. Films (even Indian) lag behind Qawwali on the scale of prfoundity. If these two can match, this would be the best use of Qawwali because it needs `mahoul` and film already creates mahoul where qawwali can pop in some time to boost that mahoul.

what can be done?

#3 Jibran

Thanks. I read the article a couple of more times and it is a lot clearer now. I should have worded the question (1) differently – whether the appeal of qawwali (more so than other forms of music) is rooted in vigorous participation by a group’s individuals and the resulting sense of belonging which spontaneously develops. This appears to be already discussed in the article in an indirect way.

Thats a fair critisim, and i accept it - my articles can be a little `extravangant`
however, the point i was trying to make was that while most participants do indeed nowadays do it for the fun - it wasnt always like that, that it was a far more poignant experiance, something that it is now loosing, slowly becoming meaningless.

1) dont quite get the gist of what you are saying.. how would that be be different from any other form of music then?

2) i think movie qawwalis (with mabye an exception here or there) was the beginning of the slippery slope to qawwali `lite`, which is good in that it probably allowed it to still prosper, but only after it was rather badly disfigured. Puritans like myself would probably call this move towards mass appeal a diaster, but i can see how this is really a matter of prespective. Meekal hassan had some interesting comments on contemporary take up of classical music after dissapointing sales of his first album (sampooran), but more on that later.. gotta run.

Re: # 3
jibran,
since you call yourself a purist, i am wondering what you think of nusrat fateh ali khan`s traditional recordings?

thanks for your article. i love qawwali and i understand only a few words. i don`t think the form will die out completely. sadly, people often don`t appreciate their own art forms. also, qawwali is alive in india as well as pakistan.
qawwali can speak to you even though you don`t know the languages.

Jibran,

Nice and informative article. A little overdone though! I have a couple of points:

1) Was one reason that qawwalies became popular because they made virtually no demands on creative skills and imaginations of the audience – they just repeat what they have heard – sort of like feeling belonging to a peer group without having to put in much work?

2) Do you think qawwalies did more for the movies, or was it the other way around?

Also:
[And you come to appreciate why what you are witnessing, this forceful symbiosis of music and man, has for so long been considered a form of meditative supplication, through which so many strove to achieve a higher plane, even a means to gain closeness with god.]
I think you are going a little overboard here! Most participants are just having FUN!

Thanks.