Sabri Brothers
The Sabri Brothers are a Pakistani qawwali (Sufi devotional music) group founded by brothers Haji Ghulam Farid Sabri (1930–1994) and Haji Maqbool Ahmed Sabri (b. 1945). Descended from a line of qawwali singers in northern India, the Sabri family moved to Karachi, Pakistan, at the time of partition in 1947. Ghulam Farid Sabri and Maqbool Sabri began recording together in the late 1950s. In the 1980s the ensemble gained international recognition as one of the greatest exponents of modern qawwali originality and innovation. Praised by qawwali practitioners throughout the subcontinent, their recordings have received wide recognition for their artful composition and arrangement, varied patterns of linguistic incorporation, and expansive modes of instrumentation. The song "Tajdar-e-Haram," for example, includes refrain phrases in Urdu and verses that incorporate Hindi and Farsi, while "O Mustafa" features Middle Eastern drumbeats that enhance its Arabian quality. The Sabri Brothers also offer a distinctive musical delivery: Ghulam Farid Sabri's deep and powerful voice complements the lighter, more melodious tones of Maqbool Sabri. Although the personnel has changed over the years, the Sabri Brothers have offered a consistently high standard of performance. Since the death of Ghulam Farid Sabri, Maqbool Sabri has continued to perform and record with other members of the Sabri family.
Further Reading
Babb, Lawrence, and Susan Wadley, eds. (1995) Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Querishi, Regula. (1986) Sufi Music of India and Pakistan: Sound, Context, and Meaning in Qawwali. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
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