Brook’s Qawwali Party is a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan cover band made up of non-desi Brooklynites who get together in Park Slope. Their stuff sounds like jazz qawwali with electric guitar interludes. Sometimes it’s pretty musically interesting, other times it resembles Muzak, especially in contrast with NFAK’s voice. The band obviously can’t replicate that voice, but they get by with phonetic chants of ‘Allah hu’ and clapping. In any case, it’s probably one of the only Sufi bands with Jewish members in existence 
Listen here. Their next show is Feb. 10th in Park Slope, and it’s free.
Brook’s Qawwali Party, Friday, Feb. 10, 9pm-midnight; Tea Lounge, Union St. between 6th and 7th Aves., Park Slope, Brooklyn; free
Sounds awesome =) thanks for keeping us updated manish!
very cool. thanks for posting this
I actually would not be remotely surprised if there are other Sufi bands with Jewish members. The desi-beat loving Cheb i Sabbah is an Algerian Jew originally, and I think there was quite a North African tradition of Judeo-Islamic musical fusion. There’s the Palestinian/Israeli drummers for peace and the Jewish Sufi movement of Egypt, which I think is associated with Spinoza or Maimonides. . .sorry, I always get them mixed up.
Very cool though.
Hey nice funk man. I like that jazz thing. Some of it esplly AllahHu and MastMast, comes v.close to the bandbaja guys playing in N.Indian weddings(they just need to practice on “mein tau chorh chali baabul ka des”). I agree some of it tends to be Muzaki bland. I guess these guys would be more fun to watch playing live. Digg.
They are very fun live. Defintely go check them out on 2/10.
P.
The desi-beat loving Cheb i Sabbah is an Algerian Jew originally
In an interview with Eastern Eye last week, he said he friends call him a “Punjewbi.” Hyuk hyuk. 😉
Has anyone heard Jeff Buckley’s cover of NFAK’s “Yeh Jo Halka Saroor Hae”? Just his incredible voice and a guitar. I won’t speak for his accent, though, as I can barely do the hai/hain thing myself in Hindi class. 😉
wow. I’m twelve kinds of excited that such a thing exists.
Its not bad at all. I kinda like the Jazz mix. They do need to learn the correct pronounciation of Allah. Its not pronounced as Aa-laa. Its pronounced as Al-lah.
Has anyone heard Jeff Buckley’s cover of NFAK’s “Yeh Jo Halka Saroor Hae”? Just his incredible voice and a guitar
Which song would that be? On his website, you can listen to some videos.
Google a bit, people! Sheez. 🙂 It’s on disc 2 of “Live at Sin’e (Legacy Edition)”. I downloaded it from iTunes ages ago.
I love a little music snobbery first thing in the morning. 🙂 No i-pod for this broke grad student.
Audio sample here
Yes, I love that cover— especially his qawwali-ised guitar. But even ignoring his accent, his voice is not as strong and range not as large as Nusrat’s. On a monologue on the disc he calls Nusrat his “elvis”(/muse) and says that he listens to him every morning.
No i-pod for this broke grad student.
Yo, no snobbery here, I ain’t got no iPod neither. I just have iTunes on my Mac. Mac vs PC snobbery — that’s another story, however. 😉
And don’t dis on Buckley’s range. I feel his version is more soulful, but that might be because his rock voice is more ~emotionally~ familiar to my western ears than a qawwali being very technically skilled in Urdu.
lol. nah, the snoberry jest was in response to “Google a bit, people! Sheez. :)… I downloaded it from iTunes ages ago.” And I of course was only teasing about that (I’ve been known to do my own ‘sheez!‘-ing here and there) and thanks for the CD info. 🙂
What a great concept; love the fact that NFAK’s music appeals to folks across national and religious lines. Wish there were something like this here in DC! Based on the sound clips, the band needs a bit of tightening up, but they get points for their obvious enthusiasm and sincerity…
Am I right in thinking that a lot of Nusrat’s qawaalis were sung in Punjabi?
To Jay Singh:
Absolutely. All his famous qawallis are in Punjabi. Nusrat hailed from Faisalabad (formerly Lyallpur), an area in Pakistani Punjab which had a huge Sikh population before Partition. After Partition, many Muslims from Jalandhar region migrated to Lyallpur (Faisalabad). That’s why Faisalabadi Punjabi is a lot like Jalandhari Punjabi. In any case, most qawallis throughout the ages have been in Sindhi or Punjabi; Urdu qawallis are a “relatively” recent phenomenon (150-200 years is relatively recent in a 800 year-old tradition).
Amitabh
Thanks. That was what I was thinking. My family back in India have memories of him coming to Jalandhar and Phagwara to meet with musicians and producers before he became world famous. He also used to perform at Gurdwara’s when he came to England, singing shabads from the Guru Granth Sahib. I remember I had a chance to see him perform at the Ramgharia Gurdwara in Slough, West London, about 1991 – but I didnt go, my uncles and father went instead. That is one regret I will carry to my grave. I spent the evening with my girlfriend instead.
Anyway, on the website above it says that he sang in Urdu and other languages, but it didnt mention Punjabi. I love his Punjabi songs – he is also perhaps the greatest Punjabi folk singer of the modern era – beautiful folk songs about lovers and the fields and colours of Punjab. What a wonderful talent he was.
Amitabh
I heard that his family were actually forced out of Jalandhar during partition and settled in Lyallpur, but I may be wrong.
Does anyone know if he ever sang Heer-Ranjha?
Answered my own question with a google attack.
Click here for a selection of Nusrat Sahib’s Punjabi songs.
By the way, this website, APNAORG (Academy of Punjab in North America) is the best thing on the web for Punjabi poetry and music – scroll down to the music section to find every great Punjabi singer from India and Pakistan who ever went into a recording studio – featuring every style of Punjabi music from folk to bhangra to qawaali to shabad to filmi to mellow and sad songs. Nusrat Sahib has a great selection there. Priceless.
Actually I like that touch of phoren twang. I just think that makes them Coool.
Hello funkqawwali guys, if you are reading this, wanna come down to Austin, 6th Street? The live music capital?
midWE’er, thx for one more pointer.
And while we have so many NFAK fans around, let me ask : Any of you know where can I purchase audio CD which contains his “Tum Ek Ghorak Dhandha Ho” track? I’ve written about it in brief in the ps:section of this post. You can listen to the streaming version here. If you are a NFAK fan, and haven’t heard it — you’re gonna thank me for the rest of yr life.
wow! i’m amazed at buckley’s vocals! the trills in NFAK’s qawwalis are hard to replicate! way to be! thanks for sharing! worth the 99cents off iTunes.
Jay Singh, thx. btw, just so you know, that Pakistani music site has a collection of almost 50+ NFAK songs, including the Punjabi ones. Enjoy!
(I am desperately waiting for anyone to answer my query)
Sound like a college ska band’s van crashed into a Indian wedding. My buddy played me the Buckley cover track just this weekend…very nice job. I went to NFAK’s last show in the states..the joint was electric.
It’s such a shame that qawaali music doesn’t have a higher profile in the West, considering events post-9/11 and the increasing Wahhabism of the faith in many quarters, including some of the South Asian population (at least here in the UK).
Things would be so different if qawaali and its associated Sufi philosophy was the dominant interpretation (and image) of Islam here, instead of what’s happened in recent times and is continuing to occur worldwide. Quite a tragedy.
My favourite Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan song is “Ni Main Jaana Jogi De Naal”. Anybody else heard that one ? Absolutely fantastic from start to finish.
Sort of sounds like an indian wedding band but good nonetheless.
Anyone know the name of the UNFAK punjabi song which has the lyric:
jere din da vichhard gaya tu, main kakan vaangoo rul gaya
??
I hear you on the soulfulness of JB’s voice. (Evidence: his breath-taking cover of L.Cohen’s “Hallelujah”). I’m just saying that when he hits the high notes and the trills on this NFAK cover, his voice sounds kinda thin unlike Nusrat’s.
Nice informative thread, everybody.
Jeff’s voice does thin as he hits the trills and high notes, but considering that he’d never been trained in qawwali/Sufi-style music, he does a fantastic job. i wouldn’t be surprised if taught himself the song by listening to a tape! the intricacies of south asian classical music are hard to replicate…and sure, my granny would call him out when he’s not in sur/raag/taal, but he sure as hell impressed me!
even compared to the other qawwals i’m familiar with (well….i only know the sabri brothers and badar ali khan), i don’t think anyone can quite replicate NFAK’s edge. very distinct.
Anybody interested in listening to Nusrat saab singing Gurbani can find free samples of his work on the Sikhnet website, here, here, here, and here.
This is actually where I was blogging from yesterday. If you see a brown guy in the Tea Lounge, there’s a good chance it’s me. Come say hello. ha.