- Sain Zahoor
[
India Habitat Centre in May 2006 [cite web
title = A voice, like a call
author = Annie Zaidi
url = http://www.anniezaidi.com/2007/05/voice-like-call.html
date =2007-05-08
accessdate = 2007-05-09This is a review of the concert at theIndia Habitat Centre on May 62007. ] , with his three-stringEktara . ]Sain Zahoor or Saeen Zahur Ahmad ( _ur. سائیں ظہور) (b. around
1945 ) is aleadingSufi musician fromPakistan . He spent his life singing in the Sufi shrines, and had not cut arecord until 2006, when he was nominated for the BBC World Music awards based onword of mouthcite news
title = Sufi's choice
author = Robin Denselow
publisher =The Guardian
url = http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1654986,00.html
date = December 2, 2005
accessdate = 2007-05-08] . He emerged as the "best BBC voice of the year 2006"cite web
title = Winner BBC Music Awards 2006: Sain Zahoor (Pakistan)
author = Ivan Chrysler
publisher =British Broadcasting Corporation
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/a4wm2006/a4wm_zahoor.shtml
date =
accessdate = 2007-05-08] , an award that hadearlier recognized other prominent Sufi singers such asNusrat Fateh Ali Khan andAbida Parveen . Sain is not his first name but an honorific and isalso spelt Saeen or Saiyan, and Zahoor may be spelt Zahur.Life
Born in the
Okara /Sahiwal region in the province of Punjab (Pakistan), Zahoor was the youngest in a rural peasant family. He is said to have started singing at the age of five, and from that early age, he had dreamt of a hand beckoning him towards a shrine. He left home at the age of thirteen, roaming the Sufi shrines ofSind , Punjab andAzad Kashmir , making a living through singing. Eventually, Sain was walking past a small shrine in the south Punjab town ofUch Sharif (known for its Sufi traditions), when "someone waved at me with his hand, inviting me in, and I suddenly realised that it was this hand which I saw in my dream."cite web
title = Sain Zahoor: the roving minstrel
publisher = Matteela Music
url = http://www.matteela.com/saeen1.htm
accessdate = 2007-05-08]For some time, he studied music under Ustad Sain Raunka Ali of
Patiala Gharana , whom he met at BabaBulleh Shah 'sdargah (shrine), and who became his first guru for Sufi "kalam"s (verses). Sain also learned music from Uch Sharif based musicians Ustad Ronaq Ali and Sain Marna.Sain cannot read or write but is known for his memory of song lyrics; mostly he sings compositions of the major Sufi poets,
Bulleh Shah ,Mullah Shah Badakhshi ,Muhammad Buksh , and others.Musical style
[
Ektara (a kind oflute , normally with a single string,but he uses a three-stringed version). Notice the longkurta and theghungroo s (anklet bells).]All his life, Sain Zahoor has performed mainly in
dargah s (Sufi tombs/shrines) and festivals, and in the streets. He adopted the folk instrumentEktara ("ek"= one, "tar" = string), in its three-stringed version, as his main instrument. Like some traditions of Sufi music, he has a passionate, high-energy style of singing, often dancing in a frenzied style with the tassels on his instrument whirling around him (see his performance on YouTube [ [http://coastaldissident.wordpress.com/2007/04/03/sain-zahoor-ahmad/] A well-produced video of the ceremony where Sain Zahoor emerged winner for the Asia/Pacific category.] ). Dressed in embroidered (kurta ), beads, tightly bound turban, as well asghungroo s (anklet-bells worn by dancers), Sain Zahoor cuts an impressive figure. His voice has an earthy tone, almost cracking at the edges, but capable of a wide vocal and emotional range.In 1989 he performed on a concert stage for the first time at the All Pakistan Music Conference, which brought him into musical prominence. Subsequently he has emerged as a leading performer in Pakistan, frequently appearing on TV and in concerts attended by President General Pervez Musharraf. Zahoor has also given concerts in UK, Japan [cite web | title = Folk Music Performance: Pakistan Pavilion [PDF] | publisher =
Aichi Expo 2005 website | url = http://www.expo2005.or.jp/en/nations/release/pdf/050627_pakistan.pdf | accessdate = 2007-05-09] , and India.Fact|date=March 2008Sufi singing is focused on poetry with themes of devotional love, which shares much with Persian mystic poets like
Rumi and with otherSouth Asia n traditions such as theBhakti cult. Sufi traditions highlight a softer, multi-cultural aspect of Islam, and are seen as a countering "the extremism of the mullahs who use the mosques to spread ill-will" against other cultural groups, according to some organizers of Sain Zahoor's concerts.In 2006, Sain had a record out ("Awazay", sounds) with Matteela Records. In 2007, he helped produce the soundtrack to the new Pakistani film,
Khuda Ke Liye .References
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