Pakistan

Straight out of the pages of history, Subhan Ahmed Nizami belongs to the prestigious school of Hindustani music known as "Qawwal Baché" (Delhi gharana of Karachi) founded in the 13th century by Hazrat Amir Khusro (1253-1325), that flourished through it's affiliation to sanctuaries and music masters of imperial and princely courts. Subhan Ahmed Nizami descends in a direct line from the first disciple of Amir Khusro, Mian Samaath: since the 13th century, there has never been a rupture in the chain of transmission of this dynasty of musicians whose secrets have been taught from father to son for 33 generations, for over 750 years. Subhan Ahmed Nizami has in his possession nearly 2000 manuscripts of poems in their original language (Persian, Braj, Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu), the secrets of which were shared from generation to generation, manuscripts which would doubtless find a place of honor in any museum. For this first album, he has chosen to present compositions from his family's repertoire: qawwali singing with deep roots -in essence a message of peace, fraternity and spiritual love.