Qawwali music legends Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwals, led by the nephews of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, are on tour this month, with dates set for Bradford, London, Birmingham and Bristol.
The qawwali group, led by brothers Rizwan and Muazzam Ali Khan, will showcase their new album, ‘At the Feet of the Beloved’, as well as playing the UK premiere of performances from ‘Chain of Light’ – the lost Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan album which was first released last year; discovered 34-years after it was recorded.
The two lead singers come from a direct family line of Qawwali music that spans over five centuries. Their grandfather was an uncle of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and taught Nusrat the art of qawwali vocal music. They have continued their uncle’s pioneering efforts to transcend cultural, language and religious barriers and to bring to the world the devotional but vibrant Qawwali vocal music of the Sufi mystics.
The band performs in traditional style – sitting on the ground rather than on seats – which they believe brings them closer to God. They sing in Farsi (Persian), Punjabi, and Urdu with an intensity that has led one commentator to call them, only half in jest, “the Qawwali Clash.”
Their live performances are majestic, hypnotic, exciting, and deeply joyful, and it takes classical music into totally unexpected corners. Performing songs that use hypnotic vocal repetition to induce a state of ecstasy, their soaring voices are backed by a gharana, an ensemble of harmonium and tabla accompanied by handclaps.
“The brothers are back with a new record that teems with all the love and transcendent longing one associates with Qawwali – but, in a way which the pair seem set on making their own. As producer and manager Rashid Din says: “There hasn’t been anybody who actually has led the legacy in this manner of working in the footsteps of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – even from his family, these are the only two brothers who are actually trying to follow the footsteps of their late uncle.
“And even within Pakistan, there are many Qawwali singers doing a good job, but nobody is doing anything new, they’re just repeating and copying Nusrat songs. So, we felt the need to give new material as Nusrat is not with us anymore. These two brothers are doing a great job with the new lyrics and new compositions, trying to take Nusrat’s message further.”
Recorded in their home studio in Pakistan, these are, at their core, songs about seeking love and peace, of course; but Rashid suggests the interpretation is ultimately down to the beholder. “We call them their love songs, but there is a spirituality in there. But it’s contemporary, too; it can be applied either way, spiritually or materialistically. It depends on where an individual’s love is – whether it’s spiritual or non-spiritual.”
As part of this UK tour, the Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwals will perform at Bradford’s City of Culture celebrations, and as the closing event of the South Asian Sounds festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall, as well as performances in both Birmingham and Bristol.
TOUR DATES
- 14 May BRADFORD The Alhambra Theatre – part of Bradford 2025 City of Culture celebrations.
- 18 May LONDON Royal Festival Hall – closing the South Asian Sounds Festival
- 23 May BIRMINGHAM Town Hall
- 25 May BRISTOL Bristol Beacon
