Allan Faqir–the voice of soulful Sindh

You know what the expensive restaurants say on their menus: Good food takes time. Please be patient.

The same applies to this music by soulful Sindhi folk artist Allan Faqir. This is not the musical equivalent of McDonalds. Rather it is an expensive meal in a fine eatery. It is something not to gobble down in a few minutes but rather something to savour and luxuriate in. Rather than food, the better analogy may be a great bottle of wine. One that displays its subtleties and treasures over an entire evening. And which gets better with each uncorking.

This is from a cassette. There is no track list but as the announcer says at the very beginning, this is Faqir singing the poetry of Shah Latif, Sindh’s greatest mystical poet in his ‘soulful voice’.

It captures the singer in a space of deep devotion, immersed in the poetry and spirit of Shah Latif. His only accompaniment is a single stringed tumbi or ektara. Minimal music. Maximum feeling.

Enjoy on Sunday morning when the house is still.

AAF

Sindhi Soul: Manzoor Ali Khan

Manzoor Ali

On the other side of the subcontinent, 2200 kms from Bengal, in the desert interior of the Pakistani province of Sindh you’ll find the spiritual cousins of the Bauls. Trade between the Arab settlements of Muscat, Oman and the Arabian peninsula and this part of South Asia was long established by the time the new faith, Islam, began to dominate West Asia. It was in Sindh in the northwest and along the Malabar Coast in the south west (modern Kerala) that this religion of ‘submission and peace’ first took hold in southern Asia.

In Sindh an exceedlingly rich and distinctive culture that encompassed literature, philosophy, architecture and music bound the Sindhi speaking peoples together in a unique, syncretic embrace. And at the foundation of this culture lay an indigenous mystical spiritual attitude and practice that often saw what we now refer to as Hindus and Muslims sharing and participating in and creating and sustaining a way of life and belief that prioritised the simple ‘heart of man’.

In an ancient post I provided some more information on this particular spiritual realm which you may want to visit.

Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan whose collection I share today is one of my personal favourite singers of sufiana lokgeet. His voice is clear and supple. His songs, like those of the Bauls of Bengal, strip away the exterior trappings of ‘religion’ and take you directly to the heart and soul of the matter. Pure love. Pure intention. Peace and beauty.

Enjoy

MAKss

Shah jo Raag: Abida Parveen

Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai

It’s raining and chilly.  Being Saturday the household is moving slowly.  It is mid morning and I am letting the warmth of Abida Parveen‘s voice wash gently over me.  She covers me and settles the mind, preparing it for the many mundane battles that lay ahead.

She is singing several sur from the trove of mystical writings of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai one of Sindh’s several imaginative philosophers and poets.

No one who visits this site needs further introduction to either performer or composer.

The instructions are simple:

Sit in silence. Listen. Be at peace.

Track Listing:

01. Sur Dahar

02. Sur Desi

03. Sur Kapaate

04. Sur Sumandi

Shahjo

Field Recordings: Sufi Songs from Sindh and Punjab

I see its been quite a while since the last post. Indeed, my posts have become as infrequent as Halleys Comet over the past many months, not due to any slackening of interest or desire in music but rather through a necessary focus on a whole bag of other projects and issues. But in the past few weeks I’ve come into possession of some excellent South Asian music which I’m looking forward to sharing.

First off the rank is a small collection of field recordings from Sindh and Pakistani Punjab. Billed as ‘Sufi music’ this majmua’h is more accurately a sampler of folk music from those ancient fabled lands. The performers are all relatively unknown beyond the districts in which they live or wander and their performances are completely natural, raw and uninhibited. As the singer Fatah Daudpoto says in his introduction to Aa Mil Yaara (Track 4) ‘I’m a folk singer and folk music is direct. Not mechanical or digital.’ Which is similar to the adamant statement (and album title) of the old blues guitarist Mississippi Fred McDowell ‘I do not play no rock n roll’.

These recordings are made on site, live and several of the tracks include ambient sounds and whisperings from those in the crowd.  In many instances, especially tracks like #9 and #6, I am reminded of the soundtrack to the wonderful film Latcho Drom, about gypsies and their music. These songs have that same electric ‘chaos barely under control’ feeling.  My only complaint is that most of the tracks are too short which clearly is a decision made by the producers of the album and not the artists themselves who were barely allowed to pick up a head of steam.

Still, a wonderful little collection to add to your collection of South Asian/ Pakistani/ Punjabi/Sindhi folk music.

Track Listing

1 Intro – Damadam Mast Qalandar [Ustad Aacher and Party]

2 Jo Tera Gham Na Ho [Kalyam Sharif Qawwali Troupe]

3 Aahe Arman Ajeebon [Meeh Wasaiyo]

4 Aa Mil Yaara [Fatah Daudpoto]

5 Sur Rano [Latif Sarkar]

6 Sehra [Basheer Haidari and Nazira Bano]

7 Aarfana Kalaam [Shazia Tarannum]

8 Mahi Yaar Di Gharoli Bhardi – Raag Jog [Babu]

9  Shah Jo Raag [Sain Juman Shah and Fakirs]

10 Ayman Kalyan Raag [Ghulam Arshad]

11 Kalaam of Bulle Shah [Unknown]

SUFI

Of Sindh, Sufis and Cricket: Bijal Khan Mehar and Dayam Khan

Hurs charging against the British

The opening song of this sensational collection of Sindhi sufi songs is a paean to Pir Pagaro, a figure of some influence in multiple spheres of Pakistani public life.   When I lived in Pakistan about 25 years ago the Pir was a figure of much derision and cynicism among my circle of friends as he was seen as the worst sort of feudal figure with obvious ambitions to be ever close to the beating heart of political power.

6th Pir Pagaro Mardan Sha

But his political king-making was but one aspect of his cult.  He was also respected by all Pakistanis as one of the important patrons of the game of cricket (the national madness). Over the years he supported many of Pakistan’s most promising players, often sending them to the UK for mentoring and training, out of his own funds.  He himself played a single game of First Class cricket.

His political destiny was one he inherited from his father and grandfather, who as heads of a sufi movement known as  the Hurs  (pure ones), led a long resistance to the rule of the British.  The Hurs were brutally repressed but never defeated, even though the 6^th Pir Pagaro (the current Pir’s grandfather) was captured and hanged by the colonial regime.  Patriotism and independence and free thinking run deep in the line of the Pirs. The 7^th Pir (Mardan Shah), whom we despised back in the 80s, was a keen puppet master in the Alice-in-Wonderland politics of Pakistan, and for many years served as President of the Pakistan Muslim League (one of the country’s two major parties).

Most important to the people of Sindh, however, is the Pir’s leadership of their spiritual band, and it is undoubtedly to these attributes that the opening song is referring, not the sport or political shenanigans.

For all my time in Pakistan I was unable to spend any time in Sindh as it was a lawless place then and now. Completely spiritual and holy as well and full of a deep religious and mystical air.   The more I am exposed to the music and very tolerant, syncretic culture of Sindh the more I regret my failure to visit. And as I listen to this collection I can say I ‘miss’ Sindh even though I’ve not truly set foot in the place!

The music comes from the bosso folk label De Kulture out of Jaipur but records the voices and playing of nomadic traditional musicians from the far western reaches of Rajasthan. In the past these people would have travelled (and probably many still do) freely across the Pakistan/India border, hence their allegiance  to Pir Pagaro.  The two main peformers are from Barmer in Rajasthan.  Bijal Khan Mehar and Dayam Khan.

Fantastic music. Plain and simple.

Track Listing:

01 Pir Pagaro

02 Nukta Yaar Padhaya

03 Allah Jane

04 Pal Pal Pur Pawan

05 Jogi Aaya

06 Duma Dum

07 Har Rang Di

08 Sir Ishq Mein

09 Dadho Nihi

✪✪★