Sabri Brothers

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The Sabri Brothers
The Sabri Brothers
Background information
Origin	Kalyana, East Punjab
Genre(s)	Qawwali
Years active	1952-present
Label(s)	Arion Auvidis UNESCO Virgin Piranha Oriental Star Agencies Xenophile Sirocco Nonesuch
Website	Official Website of The Sabri Brothers
Members
Haji Maqbool Ahmed Sabri (1952-present) Haji Mehmood Ghaznavi Sabri (1975-present)
Former members
Haji Ghulam Farid Sabri (1956-1994) Haji Kamal Sabri (?-2001)

The Sabri Brothers (Urdu: صابری برادران) are a Qawwali party from Pakistan.

1 Original Members
2 Lineage
3 The Four Sabri Brothers
4 Early Life
5 Career
6 Legacy
7 Partial Discography
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Original Members

The Sabri Brothers were originally comprised of Haji Ghulam Farid Sabri (b. 1930 in Kalyana, East Punjab - d. April 5, 1994^[1] in Karachi; lead vocals, harmonium), Haji Maqbool Ahmed Sabri (b. October 12, 1941 in Kalyana; lead vocals, harmonium), Haji Kamal Sabri (d. 2001; backup vocals, chirya tarang), Haji Mehmood Ghaznavi Sabri (b. 1949 in Karachi; backup vocals, bongo drums), Fazal Islam (chorus), Azmat Farad Sabri (chorus), Sarwat Farid (chorus), Javed Kamal Sabri (chorus), Haji Abdul Karim (dholak), and Haji Mohammed Anwar (tabla).

[edit] Lineage

The Sabri Brothers' musical lineage stretches back over many centuries, to the time of the Mughal emperors. They claim to be the direct descendants of Mian Tansen, the legendary Hindustani musician of the court of Mughal emperor, Akbar the Great. Mehboob Baksh Ranji Ali Rang, their paternal grandfather, was a master musician of his time; Baqar Hussein Khan, their maternal grandfather, was a unique sitarist. All the members of the group belong to the Sabiria Sufi order, hence the name Sabri.

[edit] The Four Sabri Brothers

There were four Sabri brothers. The eldest brother was Haji Ghulam Farid Sabri. A man of immense spirituality, he was considered by many to be a saint. He possessed a deep and powerful voice and presented the jelal energy when performing. Next was Haji Kamal Sabri who was a master of the vocal techniques of tan tarana. Finally, there is Haji Maqbool Ahmed Sabri and Haji Mehmood Ghaznavi Sabri. Maqbool's light and melodious voice was able to immerse the listeners into jemal (a state of tenderness and receptivity), while performing. When asked whether he ever gets numb from sitting on the floor for a long time, he replied "I had five knee injuries and two operations. But sitting during a Qawwali performance is a must because it is following the Eastern tradition of sitting to meditate or pray and for respect of the word of God and the Prophet".

[edit] Early Life

The Sabri brothers were taught music by their father, Ustad Haji Inayat Sen Sabri. He trained his sons in Qawwali and North Indian classical music. Their first public performances were at the annual Urs festival of Hazrat Peer Mubarak Shah in Kalyana in 1946, at 16 and 5 years of age, respectively. The family moved from India to Karachi, Pakistan following the partition in 1947. Maqbool furthered his knowledge by studying music under Ustad Fatehdin Khan, Ustad Ramzan Khan, and Ustad Latafat Hussein Khan Rampuri. With the help of his father, Maqbool formed his first Qawwali party in 1952, at the age of 11. Soon afterwards, in 1956, Ghulam Farid, who was then singing with Ustad Kallan Khan's Qawwali party, joined him and became the leader of the party, which soon came to be known as The Sabri Brothers.

[edit] Career

Their first recording was released in 1958 under the EMI Pakistan label, scoring a popular hit with the Urdu Qawwali, Mera Koi Nahin Hai. The Sabri Brothers became the first exponents of Qawwali to the West in 1975, when they performed to a sold-out audience at New York's Carnegie Hall. Their career was marked by brotherly squabbles which led to periods of solo work by each. Ghulam Farid's funeral in Karachi was estimated to be attended by more than 40,000 mourners. The group now features Maqbool as the leader, supported by Mehmood Ghaznavi Sabri and Amjad Farid Sabri.

[edit] Legacy

The Sabri Brothers have been praised for their sensitive and masterly performance of Qawwalis that capture the beautiful traditions of Sufism. There was a great emphasis on revealing the poetry of the khwajagaan (saints), such as Amir Khusro, Maulana Rumi and Bulleh Shah. For many years, the Sabri Brothers were regarded as the foremost living exponents of the 700 year-old tradition of Qawwali. Even after Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan burst on the scene and lifted Qawwali to a whole new level, The Sabri Brothers continued to be very highly regarded.