#4463, Three Trance Traditions
Listen to music of three ecstatic traditions, all of which take time to build and rely on a deep rhythmic groove to help get to that mystical state. Hear Qawwali party music from Pakistan, Sufi singing from Upper Egypt, and a trancelike medley of Amhara wedding music by QWANQWA, a group based in Ethiopia.
The Sufi music of Pakistan known as Qawwali is centuries old, and consists of spiritual texts set to soaring melodies, driven by what sounds like an almost modern dance beat, supported by handclaps. Hear this ecstatic Qawwali prayer music from the great Pakistani singer, Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn (1948-1997), recorded at the 1985 WOMAD Festival.
Then, listen to munshidin (sacred song) of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tuni, one of Upper Egypt’s last great Sufi singers, recorded at the Fez Festival in Morocco in 2001 by John Schaefer. Listen to “Song To Sidi Abul Hassan,” (a Sufi saint) where Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tuni intones text of praise, with drum rhythms, oud, clapping, and ney flute, which gradually builds and accelerates to an ecstatic state.
Also, listen to a medley of Amhara wedding music from the Addis Ababa-based group QWANQWA, who combine Ethiopia’s unique one-string mesenko fiddle, and the lyre called krar. Together with five-string electric violin, and traditional kebero drum, the mesenko fiddle and krar encircle hypnotic weaving vocal melodies, as the slow-build celebration is propelled along by hand claps, and meant to induce a trancelike state. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4463, Three Trance Traditions (First Aired 2/22/2021)
ARTIST: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
WORK: Haq Ali Ali [25:05]
RECORDING: Live at WOMAD 1985
SOURCE: Real World Records
INFO: realworldrecords.com
ARTIST: Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tuni
WORK: Song To Sidi Abul Hassan [13:04]
RECORDING: Recorded live at the Fez Festival in Fez, Morocco, 2001
SOURCE: Not commercially recorded
INFO: Al-Tuni's release, Sultan of All Munshidin may be available from Amazon.com, or auction sites
ARTIST: QWANQWA
WORK: Serg [15:49]
RECORDING: QWANQWA Volume 3
SOURCE: FPE Records
INFO: qwanqwaband.bandcamp.com
