#5046, Veteran Voices of the Islamic World
Hear great voices of the Islamic world: Baghdadi maqam master Hamid Al Sahdi, Egyptian singer and actress Oum Kalthoum (1898-1975), and Pakistani surti singer Ustad Saami. Also, hear posthumously-discovered music by the late great Pakistani Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and more.
Ustad Saami, the master Pakistani singer, is the only vocal practitioner left in the world of surti, a centuries-old tradition of pre-Islamic microtonal music, which predates Qawwali singing. Ustad Saami’s unique style consists of a system which “divides each octave into forty-nine surti (microtones). [For comparison, European music theory divides the octave into twelve, and Hindustani theory has mostly agreed on twenty-two,” (The Quietus, 2021.)] All three of Ustad Saami’s albums have been produced by Grammy-winner, Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, The Good Ones, Zomba Prison Project). Accompanied by the master’s sons on harmonium, tabla and tambura, hear music from 2021’s East Pakistan Sky, recorded live without overdubs at Ustad Saami’s rooftop home in Karachi. Experience the Saami Brothers Khayal with special guest Ustad Naseeruddin Saami on Oct. 4, 2025 at Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall.
Then, listen to the Iraqi vocalist Hamid Al-Saadi (b.1958), one of the last living masters of Baghdadi maqam. He is the only living singer who has mastered the entire Iraqi Maqam repertoire. There's music from Maqam Al-Iraq, which is Al-Saadi's first recording since the 1990s, recorded with Amir ElSaffar's Safaafir ensemble. Also, hear ecstatic Sufi prayer music by the great Qawwali singer from Pakistan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn (1948-1997). Qawwali has its origins in the 12th Century, “when the great Sufi saint Hazratja Khawaja Moin-Ud-Din Chishtie travelled to India to bring the message of Islam to the Hindu nation” (Real World Records.) It consists of spiritual texts set to often florid, soaring melodies, driven by what sounds like an almost modern dance beat, supported by handclaps. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #5046 Veteran Voices of the Islamic World (First aired 9/8/25)
ARTIST: Oum Kalthoum
WORK: El Hob Kollo [1:00]
RECORDING: El Hob Kollo
SOURCE: Sono Cairo #127
INFO: Out of print, but try Discogs.com
ARTIST: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
WORK: Ya Gaus Ya Meeran [9:33]
RECORDING: Chain of Light
SOURCE: Real World Records
INFO: https://realworldrecords.com/releases/chain-of-light/
ARTIST: Oum Kalthoum
WORK: El Hob Kollo [6:34]
RECORDING: El Hob Kollo
SOURCE: Sono Cairo #127
INFO: Out of print, but try Discogs.com
ARTIST: Ustad Saami
WORK: Prayer for Peace [6:24]
RECORDING: East Pakistan Sky
SOURCE: Glitterbeat Records
INFO: https://glitterbeat.com
ARTIST: Hamid Al-Saadi
WORK: Maqam Al Sa’idi Hijaz / Habibi Rah wa Ma Janeh [14:56]
RECORDING: Maqam Al-Iraq
SOURCE: Maqam Records
INFO: https://hamidalsaadi.bandcamp.com/album/maqam-al-iraq
ARTIST: Sheikh Ahmed al-Tuni
WORK: Songs in Praise of Sidi Aboul Hassan [5:24]
RECORDING: Live, 7/2001, Fez Festival of World Sacred Music
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: Al-Tuni's music is on AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon.com
