Qawwali at The Loading Bay Cafe

Qawwali Now Presents

Qawwali at The Loading Bay Cafe, with Hamid Ahsan Noshahi (HAN) from Mandi Bahauddin, Pakistan.

HAN will be performing live at The Loading Bay Café as part of their debut UK tour, having previously toured Europe and the Middle East.

About the group:

Hamid Ahsan Noshahi and Party are based in Pakistan, hailing from a family of traditional Qawwali singers going back over 380 years. They specialise in classical, authentic and traditional Qawwali with unique complex melodies and poetry sang in Farsi, Urdu, Punjabi and Saraiki.

What is Qawwali?

Qawwali explains Bobby Friction, "Is the physical and musical manifestation of the Sufi religious tradition in South Asia. Powerful, poetic and transcendent, its hypnotic rhythms and melodies celebrate God, love and music as one."Qawwali emerged in what is now India and Pakistan in the 13th century, in close association with the Sufi and their Islamic mysticism. Typically, there are a lot of people involved in a performance, with eight or nine players making music with harmoniums, tabla, dholak and other percussive instruments.

A lead vocalist and a small team of side singers take turns weaving in several different melodies, some of which will be improvised. After a long, improvised introduction for the main song, the singers all join in and vie with each other as the song builds towards its crescendo and sudden, abrupt end. It’s all about the build-up, so Qawwali songs are rarely short - there are no radio edits here. They can be anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes long.

Qawwali and The West – Peter Garbriel and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

In 1989, English rock and world musician Peter Gabriel suggested to Qawwali star Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and ambient musician and guitarist Michael Brook that they record a collaborative album together for Gabriel's recently established world music label Real World Records. The duo subsequently recorded Mustt Mustt (1990), a world fusion album credited only to Khan that features Khan's qawwali vocals with keyboard work from Brook. 

It was subsequently named one of the Top 100 albums of the 1990s by American music magazine Alternative Press, and reached number 14 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums chart in 1991. David Lynch of The Austin Chronicle called the album a "seminal fusion". British musician Nitin Sawhney said that it "changed the face of British music forever".

Join Us for Coffee and Qawwali

A night of soulful Qawwali which will give you a glimpse and appreciation for this historical art form. With energetic rhythms alongside the tabla, harmonium and synchronised clapping throughout. 

Event Schedule:

Doors Open: 6:20pm

Event Start: 6:30pm

Finish: 8:00pm

All attendees are requested to please arrive on time as we intend to start the programme at 6:30pm prompt.