One of the exciting things happening in
Indian music at the moment is a resurgence in genuine folk music. Everyone knows about classical and Bollywood
and qawwali but there are dozens if
not hundreds of other regional and local musical styles and forms that are
rarely heard in other parts India let alone the world.
Young music lovers and entrepreneurs are
starting to use modern technologies and sensibilities to produce this
‘authentic’ folk and promote it to new audiences. It is an exciting time, indeed!
One of the recent discoveries I’ve been
enjoying immensely of late is Noora.
Her family belonged to Lyallpur
(Faisalabad) in present day Pakistan but the moved to India at the time of the
Partition and Swarn Noora was born
close to Amritsar. Her musical training
came by default from her mother Bibi
Noora, a nationally acclaimed singer of sufiana kalam, though she regards her later husband Sohan Lal to be her true guru.
Noora was interested in singing even as a little girl, but
her mother did not consider it a fit
line for her daughter and didn’t encourage her to train professionally. She was married at the age of 21, and though
her husband also belonged to a family of singers who regularly did perform
professional, mostly qawwali programs, she would never accompany them. Noora says she fell seriously ill with
an inexplicable illness and it is then that her husband, having tried all kinds
of medicines and failed, asked her what she was really sad about. She then
expressed her desire to sing professionally. He immediately agreed and began to
train her to sing with a dholak and
tabla, to prepare her to perform in front
of audiences. That was her journey into professional singing and she hasn’t
looked back since. Her husband passed away a few years ago, she now sings with
her son Dilbahar, who accompanies
her on vocals and harmonium. Her eldest son, Gulshan, is a composer and has set many of the compositions she
sings to tune, and the second son, Gulzar,
is a dholak player.
(Liner Notes)
This is a family affair. Noora’s voice is powerful and commands
instant respect and attention. The rhythms kept by the dholak and harmonium are absolutely pristine. Unpretentious but gloriously
Punjabi. The songs cover spiritual themes, folklore and love stories. The
highpoint for me is O Mere Dataji a
12 minute paean to one of Punjab’s great sufi masters, Datasahib Ganj-e-Shakar, to bring blessings and
transformation.
Track
Listing:
01 Bahana Tera Tak Len De
02 Mera Ranjha Palle Vich Pa De
03 Jee Ve Soneya Jee
04 Kaccha Vekh Na Leya
05 Tumba Vajda Na
06 Bue Khushiyan Ne Dhole De
07 O Mere Dataji
08 Jugni
3 comments:
I am thankful for labels like Beat of India and Amarass for keeping the traditional folk sounds alive. I discovered Bibi Swarn Noora via her son Master Dilbahar, after I searched high and low for the identity of the vocal samples on the global hit Let The Music Play by Shamur. She has been a favorite of mine the last 2 years. If you haven't already, be sure to check out Rang De - A Tribute To Baba Bulleh Shah, it plays like a mehfil with introductions/anecdotes before many of the tracks.
Also her son Gulzar Gill passed away earlier in March. :(
Link deleted too.. Kulhi Raah Vich Paai is her best item..and most popular one too.. Sadly it is missing in this collection. Kindly update when free.
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