ABBAS ALI KHAN

by

Ally Adnan

Eight (8) years after the release of his tremendously successful first album, Sun

Re, Abbas Ali Khan is getting ready to release his second album, Tamam Alam

Mast. In an exclusive interview with The Friday Times, Khan talks at length

about his new Album, his life as a musician, his education in music and much

else.

1. It has been eight (8) years since you released your first album, Sun Re.

Why did it take so long to make your second album, Tamam Alam Mast?

Sun Re was hugely successful. I could have released a second album quickly to

cash in on its

success but I

decided not to do

that. Instead, I

decided to work on

an album which was

a true labor of love,

something I

believed in and

cared for. Sufism

has always held my

interest; I wanted

my second album to

reflect my belief in

Sufism. I wanted to grow both as a person and as a musician before I started

recording for the second album. The eight (8) years that you talk about were

spent rediscovering myself, reading about Sufism and focusing on my training in

classical music. It took a little longer than I had anticipated but I was in no

particular hurry. I had to be ready before I started recording. And as soon as I

felt that I was, I was back in the recording studios.

2. Tell us about Tamam Alam Mast?

Tamaam Alam Mast product of my ongoing spiritual journey and intellectual

growth. The songs in the album feature Urdu and Persian Sufi poetry - both,

traditional and modern - and are based on raags of the music of Pakistan and

India, or Hindustani sangeet,. The subject of all the songs is true love, Ishq. It

may be worldly love, or Ishq E Majazi, for some listeners while others may feel

it is the love for the creator, or Ishq E Haqeeqi. I composed the songs thinking of

my love for god but each listener will have his own personal and unique

experience. I purposely avoided making a distinction between Ishq E Majazi and

Ishq E Haqeeqi in my songs and believe that this deliberate ambiguity added a

new dimension to the songs.

3. Sufism and anything Sufi - Music, Dance, Literature, Painting - is

fashionable these days. Do you plan to cash in on this popularity with your

album?

Yes, yes, yes!

That being said, I do not believe that it is a bad thing to cash in on the success of

a popular vehicle of communication. The popularity of Sufism allowed me to

take my message of love, peace, tolerance and understanding to a wider

audience. I am not ashamed of that; quite the opposite. I feel that I made a

judicious decision to use Sufi texts to communicate my beliefs, values and

through music.

4. Sufi texts have been used for centuries for singing qawwali and kafi. How

is your Sufi music different?

My music is nothing like

nothing like qawwali and

kafi. I am a lover of both

the genres but the sound

of my music is uniquely

Abbas Ali Khan. The

sound is clean, soulful,

uncluttered and based

largely on the poetic

texts it carries. I cringe at

using the term Fusion

Music to describe my

music because the

widely used

classification has come

to represent sub-

standard music

produced in a rush by

people without a proper

education in music. Sure,

some work done under

than banner of Fusion

Music has been of very

high quality but this has

been more the exception

than the rule. The truth is that my album features Fusion Music but I believe -

and sincerely hope and pray - that it is superior to a lot of music out there being

classified under the genre. I have used both Eastern and Western music to

create fusion music that is intensely personal, deeply contemplative, and highly

nuanced. This sound is new to South Asia and bears remarkable fidelity to both

oriental and occidental sound. The use of instruments is judicious and the

primary focus is on capturing the mood, atmosphere and aura of the poetry

being sung. Each song features prominently a single ethnic music instrument

such as the shehnai, sarangi and sarode. The selection of the base raags of the

songs was dictated by the poetry. The album has an unplugged feel. The songs

cover a whole spectrum of emotions. Kaheen pe jamaal, kaheen par jamal.

5. You worked with a lot of celebrated musicians, both from Pakistan and

from other countries, for your album. What was the experience like?

The experience was

amazing; all of these

musicians added a lot

to my album. Every

artist brings his own

soul to music. I worked

with some very

important musicians

for this album. I gave

the musicians very

little direction about

music and spoke to

them mainly about the

essence, mood and

meaning of the song.

Once they understood

those, I let them play

however they wanted to play. I would often hear myself saying, "Khan sahib

aap raag bhi janaty hain, shairi bhi samjhtay hain aur main jo kehna chah raha

hun wo bhi pata hai aap ko. Ab bas mazay se bajaiye. " My co producer and

friend, Taimoor Mirza, was a veritable asset in properly utilizing and recording

the music of the celebrated musicians that you talk about.

6. Your new album, like most, if not all, other albums produced today,

employs post processing using sophisticated audio software. If these programs

had not been available, and all you had available was an analog microphone

and a recording machine, would this album have been possible?

Yes, it would have. Absolutely,

it would have. I have mostly

used actual musical instruments

in the album. Very rarely have I

used synthesized music and

that only when budget and

logistical constraints made

using actual instruments

impossibly. I would have loved

to use a seventy-person

orchestra but did not have the

kind of money that would

require. It was in these

situations, that I went for

virtual sound.

My new songs is has a very

lively acoustic feel. I did use

software for post processing

but only to make the sound

cleaner and up to the standards

of the music industry today. Maybe the use of analog recording would have

made the sound a little warmer, a little more natural but the difference would

have been small.

7. Tell us about the videos that are being produced for the songs in this

album.

I hope to be able to make a video for each and every song in the album. I have

many ideas for the videos but first I need to take some rest. I will start work on

the videos two (2) months after the release of the album.

8. A few years ago, you held some highly successful live ghazal mehfils. Why

have you stopped performing live in recent years?

I have not stopped performing in mehfils but most of the shows that I do are

corporate events. They don't get much coverage in the media. Once the album

comes out, I will tour both within Pakistan and overseas. I also hope to be able

to perform in Sufi festivals over the globe.

9. Your Ustad, Bade Fateh Ali Khan, is a well known and highly regarded

exponent of khayal and thumri. Yet, you primarily sing geet and other lighter

forms of music. What does he teach you?

I have learnt khayal gaiyaki from Ustad Ji and occasionally sing both khayal and

thumri but inclination, like you said, is to sing lighter forms of music. These

genres allow me greater creative freedom and afford me and opportunity

experiment, mix and match, and have fun while composing music. I like it this

way. That does not mean I do not like of have given up khayal and thumri. I will

continue to sing all forms of our music.

10. You are an atayee which means that you do not belong to a family of

musicians. Was learning from Bade Fateh Ali Khan as an atayee difficult?

Oh yes, I am totally an atayee, even though my family understand and

appreciates music very well. They just do not hail from a traditional gharana of

music. My father understood music well and as soon as he was convinced that I

have talent, he took me to Ustad Ji for proper training. Bade Fateh Ali Khan

listened to me sing and made me a ganda-bandh shagird on the spot. He has

never treated me any different from the dhahris (members of a family of

musicians) he teaches. he has been honest, understanding, generous and

diligent as a teacher. It has been a great experience. Has it been difficult? Not

really. I actually enjoy learning from Ustad Ji.

11. Tell us about your education in music.

I did not attend a music school to learn western music but I worked very hard

on my own, using both books and the internet, to learn and understand it. I

have been studying classical music with Ustad Ji for more than ten (10) years

now. I started learning at a relatively older age than is the norm but feel that I

have done well. I have a decent understanding of both eastern and western

music. I relate to both and enjoy fusing the two (2) together.

12. What music do you listen to yourself?

I listen mainly to classical music from Pakistan and Northern India, but, every

now and then, something simple appeals to me and I listen to it endlessly for

days. It is safe to say that I listen to any music that has soul and with which I feel

an emotional connection. This can been raag Charukeshi sung by Ustad Amir

Khan Sahib one day and Gravity by John Mayer on another. Virtuosity and skill

catches my attention but for a very short periods of time; its all about the soul

for me.

13. Singing has been both your passion and your profession for many years.

Has it afforded you satisfaction and a good living?

It is extremely hard to make a living as a performing artist in a country where

people are more interested in the news than in music. I don’t blame Pakistani

but they do not value music much. Very few musicians in Pakistan make a good

living. Ustad ji sometimes says, "Beta, khali pait Darbari yaad nahi aati.” Art

only flourishes in countries where the basic needs of people are taken care off.