Re: Houston International Festival Spotlighting India
Yes
RIZWAN-MUAZZAM QAWWALI is featured in the festival
http://www.folkloreproductions.com/Html/qawwali.html
RIZWAN-MUAZZAM QAWWALI
Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali is made up of two lead singers (Rizwan and Muazzam), five secondary singers leading the choral response and vigorous hand claps, two harmonium players and a tabla player. They perform in traditional Qawwali style - sitting on the ground rather than on seats - which they believe brings them closer to God. Last year, the intensity of their songs and stage performance led one commentator, only half-jokingly, to call them “the Qawwali Clash.”
The original Qawwali repertoire of Farsi (Persian), Punjabi, and Braj Bhasha (an old form of Hindi) has given way in recent times to Urdu and Arabic. Romantic love is used as a metaphor for spiritual adoration and mystical enlightenment, drawing upon a rich vein of poetic imagery. It is not surprising, therefore, that Qawwali has become a staple of Bollywood film scores.
A song will usually begin with a slow instrumental vamp that introduces the melody. The lead singer then meanders in with the first line and establishes a call-and-response pattern. Phrases are repeated over and over again, punctuated by sudden and furious breaks of florid virtuoso singing by the leader. As the piece progresses the tempo and volume are gradually increased, elevating the listeners to higher and higher states of entrancement.
Sacrifice to Love is Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali’s debut album on Real World Records. Produced by John Leckie, it features four of their own compositions: a ‘hamd’ - a song in praise of Allah; a ‘manqabat’ - a song in praise of a great Sufi saint; a ‘naat’ - a song in praise of Prophet Mohammed; and a ‘ghazal’ - a love song with contemporary lyrics. The group’s passion for this venerable and transcendent genre is unmistakable.
It was the energetic recordings and concerts of the late, great artist, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997) which first introduced Qawwali music to Western audiences. His singing effortlessly transcended language and cultural barriers, and his spirit reached and moved people all over the world. Today, Qawwali is seen as one of the world’s most passionate and vibrant forms of music.
Pakistan’s fresh young ensemble Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali, though still in their teens, are already proving to be masters of this Sufi devotional music. The two young brothers who lead the group, Rizwan Mujahid Ali Khan and Muazzam Mujahid Ali Khan, have an impeccable musical pedigree - their grandfather was an uncle of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and personally taught Nusrat the art of Qawwali singing.
These nephews of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, then, come from a direct family line of Qawwali vocal music that spans over five centuries. Their inventive reinterpretations of spiritual love songs based upon classical Islamic and Sufi texts was first showcased in the UK in July 1998, at the WOMAD Festival in Reading, to much critical acclaim, and has since journeyed to the far corners of the globe.