Attish: the Hidden Fire (1998)
6 tracks, 66 minutes
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Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali are a qawwali party from Pakistan of the Chishtiyya Sufi order. Nowadays, they’re one of the most famous exponents of the traditional qawwali style in the world, but back when this album, their debut, was released, they were emerging talents. Led by Rizwan and Muazzam Mujahid Ali Khan, their uncle was the great qawwal Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who had just died the previous year leaving an emptiness in his place that has still never been filled. Nevertheless, people were looking for the ‘next big thing’ in qawwali, and up stepped Rizwan-Muazzam, already fully-formed and raring to take on the international scene. They later went on to experiment with various international sounds just like their uncle, but with Attish: the Hidden Fire, they showed off their chops in a traditional setting with a modern attitude.
It’s qawwali, and it’s very high-quality, so I think there is little in general that I can say that I haven’t said before about the beauty of the style. Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali are perhaps a little unusual by the fact that they have two lead vocalists instead of a soloist, but that’s not unheard of by any stretch, and their recognisable voices add a novel element as the album progresses.
So this album is another one where I’m going to be focussing on one piece of music in particular. Specifically, the last track on the album and therefore, I guess, probably the one people are most likely to miss. It’s called ‘Ali Ali Khena’, a song of praise to Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law and the one through whom Chishtiyya Sufis trace their spiritual lineage. A few years ago, I was playing this album for the first time in quite a while, and this track absolutely floored me to the degree that I play it very often nowadays. The reason why has become a slight mantra for this blog, and so I hope you won’t be too annoyed when I say: BLUES! This track is as close to a blues qawwali as you’re going to get without some ill-advised cross-cultural fusions. It’s not just a slight hinting at it with one or two notes here or there either, when that refrain comes around, ‘dam dam dam Ali Ali khena madhe Ali Ali khena, it hits every single note of the blues scale, and doesn’t deviate from it either. The groove, even though it’s based on the typical qawwali rhythm, seems to roll along with a real strut, and the harmonium sounds like it’s being played by someone well-versed in Hammond organ at times, especially at the beginning.
I wonder how much of that track’s bluesiness is intentional. It is entirely possible that it’s a complete coincidence – the scale used (that corresponds with the blues scale) is very similar to the raga Puriya Dhanashri, perhaps it’s just a natural progression from there. Whatever it is, I love it. And there’s a lesson in listening: never drop that attention before the end of the album – you never know what surprises await in the humble last track.
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