KARACHI: The Arts Council of Pakistan held an Eid Milan event on Sunday evening for its members at which the renowned qawwal group Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad performed.

It is a fact that the qawwal gharana is inarguably the most prominent in comparison to their contemporaries having an international fan-base. Justifiably so. The reason for it is that they have mastered their craft and perform with a great deal of understanding of the kalaam. Their performance on Sunday was no different. In fact, it was better than the last time they took the stage at the council.

However, Farid Ayaz has developed this habit of constantly preaching the audience. There is nothing wrong with that. He is a senior, experienced artist. The problem that sometimes arises is because of an air of condescension with which he does that. During the performance, for example, he said to his fellow musicians that ‘present something that the audience could understand’. When you are performing in front of hundreds of people, talking to them sternly for not paying attention… it doesn’t create a cordial atmosphere. That being said, the audience didn’t seem to mind it and enjoyed the qawwali.

The group began the show with Qasida Burda Sharif. It was masterfully and soulfully done. Then they shifted their attention to warming up the attendees by presenting the famous Mera Piya Ghar Aaya. As always, the group intersperse the main bit with Urdu and Punjabi verses that added a rhythmic charm to the tune. To boot, the fellow younger performers (members of their family) who flank the two main senior artists did extremely well by singing extra bits. Their control and voice projection was worth praising.

Then came Dum Hama Dum Ali Ali. It was another soul-stirring piece which got the audience to hum along. And it didn’t take the qawwals much time to move from that composition to the very well-known and loved Chhap Tilak Sab Chheen Li. This is the kind of kalaam that a lot of people know by heart which is why they invariably find themselves singing with the vocalists. The brothers also performed, among other pieces, verses of Allama Iqbal’s poetry.

All in all, it was a good concert.

Published in Dawn, April 23nd, 2024