This recital of Sufi songs is presented by the Bay DERVISH BAND &
Friends (see below for a complete list of musicians). It includes
ecstatic and devotional offerings from the 800-year-old South Asian
QAWWALI TRADITION, with introductions, some translations, and
one-and-a-half QAWWALIS IN ENGLISH!Doors open at 6:30 p.m., music
starts at 7:00 p.m., halfway through the program there will be a
30-minute tea break.
PROGRAM
_Part One: TBA
_Intermission & Tea
_Part Two:_ _TBA_
MUSICIANS
Vocals: Kiran Rana, Jeanne Rana, Divya Purohit Vyas, Ashutosh
Vyas, Harsheen Kaur, Robin Gupta
Instruments: Geoffrey Ullerich, Nina Sharif, daf; others TBA
ABOUT QAWWALI
Qawwali, the ecstatic music of the Indo-Pakistani sufi tradition, is
mystical and devotional poetry set to music and sung by a group
following a call-and-response format. Some qawwalis speak praise of
Prophets and saints, others sing of beloved teachers, the heart's
deep longing for Oneness, mystical experience, or existential
confusion/amazement. Styles of qawwali range from fiery improvisation
to trancelike flight to a quiet melodic and rhythmic surging.
Accompaniment may come from harmoniums, drums, zithers, flutes and the
hand-clapping of the chorus.
KIRAN RANA has been involved with Sufism for over 40 years and is a
senior teacher and guide in the Sufi Way. He has studied QAWWALI WITH
BABU MERAJ AHMED QAWWAL OF NEW DELHI AND RAGA WITH SUKHAWAT ALI
KHAN. JEANNE RANA is a poet and long-term member of the Sufi Way,
and sings in the Threshold Choir of the First Unitarian Church of
Oakland.
WHAT CAN QAWWALI OFFER WESTERN LISTENERS AND PARTICIPANTS AND
STUDENTS? ...
"Mostly, I can speak about what it gives me: A place to sing
devotionally without needing to suppress my intensity; the opportunity
to improvise and play with the melody and the rhythm; a sustained
musical development and landscape from tranquil to desperate and
everywhere in-between; a place to integrate my love of poetry and
lyrics with musical expression; a place to find and make the spiritual
associations that over time become a language describing the home of
my soul. In all of these aspects I think QAWWALI CAN BE A DYNAMIC,
contemporary form that does not depend on language or even cultural
background, and that is why I feel that with practice, creativity, and
grace we can all make QAWWALIS THAT WILL SPEAK TO THE HEART OF EVERY
PERSON, so we also see it's "light come shining, from the west unto
the east." _— KIRAN RANA_
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24/11/2019 Last update