root salad f18 Rizwan-Muazzam


Nusrat’s nephews are continuing the family Qawwali tradition. Elisavet Sotiriadou meets them at Womad.


T


he energetic, intense music of brothers Rizwan and Muazzam Mujahid Ali Khan and their band made them one of the favourites at


this year’s Womad. Their passionate and spicy melodies echoed around the arboretum from the BBC Radio 3 stage, the powerful handclapping, the percussion and chanting with mystical sounds and devotional songs spreading around the tree-framed auditorium.


Qawwali music started out in the Mid- dle East nearly 1000 years ago and has been on a long expedition eastwards from the Gulf area. The Sufis brought it into the Indian subcontinent so it is only natural that Arabic rhythms and sounds still influ- ence the performances of Rizwan-Muaz- zam Qawwali. The brothers also listen to music from other countries and let their own be influenced by what they pick up on their musical journeys. They tell me that trying to adapt songs slightly and use these influences for the improvisations is what makes their music that bit more beautiful.


However, they never stray too far from the original spiritual songs, which are based on classical Islamic and Sufi texts. Being the nephews of the late great qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan means that a lot of expectations rest on them. Rizwan and Muazzam say that it is a difficult task because people always compare them to their uncle. “We have to work hard because of our uncle and the family reputation. We can’t change anything of the music because it’s tradition and it is set. We’re doing our best to keep the name and keep the tradi- tion together.”


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Their manager Rashid, who is translat- ing into English during the interview, explains that along with the traditional material the band also have their own modern compositions, sung in the tradi- tional style. “So it looks traditional, but the meanings are contemporary. Again it depends on the audience how they take it, some are spiritual some are non-spiritual… But the original traditional compositions are not changed, they remain as they were for centuries and we have to sing them as they were.” So if people want to interpret the songs as spiritual or materialistic, it’s up to them and their frame of references.


ut there is room for improvisation as well, for instance in the parts of the song when the voices go into a falsetto register. The brothers say this is “based on the classical ragas we compose the lyrics in”, raga being the melodic modes, or musical notes upon which the melody is composed. Rizwan and Muazzam improvise on those particular notes and go wherever it suits, but while they do their variations they always have to keep the original composition in mind and return to it. Sometimes Rizwan will use his vocals to follow the pattern of the music or create a different one and these things happen spontaneously during a performance.


I ask them if the response from the audience has any effect on when and how they improvise. “When we sing we try to give different patterns and tempos so peo- ple don’t get bored of hearing upbeat music only. We try to change the tempo so we


always get a good response for whatever we sing, and so as we get a better response it encourages us to sing more improvisations and entertain the audience.”


Traditional qawwali music is more or less in their genes as their family has been practising this style for centuries. Qawwali itself was used to preach the message of Islam, when people couldn’t understand the language or they didn’t know about the religion, Rashid informs me. “They used this medium to convey the message of peace and love: the name qawwali means text, utterance or what has been said or written.”


It is refreshing to hear music with such a strong link to Pakistan’s culture and heritage after the many negative press stories about the country which have been reaching us in the West. This has affected the band as well, Rashid tells me. Whenever they take part in workshops to play and talk about their music, people always ask what the message in their music actually is.


“Workshops have changed,” he explains. “Since 9/11 people ask different questions from what they used to and there is a set pattern. Before 9/11 every- one asked about the qawwali music. Now the European community knows more about the background and has knowl- edge about qawwali and where it started. After 9/11 they ask us, ‘What is your reli- gion?’” Because qawwali is linked to reli- gion and its purpose was to spread Islam, the audience share their concerns during the workshops, “Especially after what they see portrayed in the media about Muslims being terrorists. Now they ask us what our religion teaches. And we have to tell them that what the terrorists do is not what the religion tells us to do.”


What Rizwan and his brother Muaz- zam want to say with their music and in their workshops is that qawwali has always been about uniting people, “So you can spread the message of peace and love so everybody can live happily togeth- er with each other”.


At Womad their audience came from many cultural backgrounds, gathering together to listen to the music. This is what the band’s music is all about. “Our music is for everyone!”


Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali are very proud to be the bearers of their musical heritage. “We as musicians are out to unite the people, not to disturb the pub- lic,” they say as we shake hands and say our goodbyes.


www.rizwanmuazzam.com F


Photo: Judith Burrows


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