Keeping the tradition of Qawwali music alive (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Keeping the tradition of Qawwali music alive

1:00pm Thursday 29th July 2010 in

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MUSICIANS Rizwan and Muazzam Mujahid Ali Khan carry on a musical tradition that is many centuries old.

As Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali, they perform the devotional music of the Sufis of Pakistan and India called Qawwali. It combines voices that are described as “climbing and swooping as if riding air currents”, with the the sound of the harmonium, tabla drums and rhythmic hand-clapping.

Qawwali is a tradition stretching back more than 700 years and is the devotional yet vibrant and poetic vocal music of the Sufi mystics of the Islamic religion.

Rizwan and Muazzam’s family has a 600-year association with Qawwali, and they are nephews of one of the best known Qawwali singers Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who died in 1997.

This week the brothers will perform in Ilford as part of a tour that takes in the Womad Festival and the Royal Albert Hall.

The Community Centre, 58 Albert Road, Ilford on Friday, July 30, 7.45pm. Tickets are available from the Kenneth More Theatre on 020 8553 4466.