Abida Parveen was born in Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan, where her father, Ghulam Haider, ran a music school. Though women in Muslim society are rarely encouraged to pursue musical (or other performance) careers, her father recognized his daughter's extraordinary talent at an early age and encouraged her to sing.



Her career crystallized after her marriage to the late Ghulam Hussain Sheikh, a senior producer in Radio Pakistan who became her mentor. She studied classical vocal music with Salamat Ali Khan.
Abida Parveen is considered by many as one of the greatest singers of the sufiana kalaam.
Everything about the artist is noticeably different from her contemporaries. A loose full-sleeved kurta and shalwar with Sindhi ajrak chadar draped over her shoulder is the trademark dress of Abida Parveen. With no make-up on and very little adornment of any kind she comes of as a devoted and honest performer of her craft. It's this faithful devotion to the Sufi's that brings about the kind of intensity that over powers the audience.It's a pleasant experience listening and watching her sing. Abida is clearly at her best with the Punjabi Sufi poetry of Bulle Shah and Waris Shah. Much like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan her awesome power to involve the listener in her state of passion lies in her voice. Be it Punjabi, Sindhi, Urdu or Saraiki, all lyrics are rendered with the same intensity having a captivating effect on the audience

Credit - dolly

Begum Abida Parveen sings dil se
[ 17 Jun, 2003 ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]


After a brief hiatus, Sufi doyenne Abida Parveen returns to the recording studio to sing some of her favourite songs for Times Music

For Mere Dil Se , Abida has hand picked tracks that reflect her innate mysticism. She describes her tools of her craft with typical poeticism: "Here are but a few half-opened flowers plucked from the rose-garden of the Tariqab (Mystic Way). Here is grace, which has been bestowed by someone's enriching glance, and I do not claim that it is for me to bestow the grace on others in turn. Rather it is the expression of one's humble allegiance to the Masters who live in a state of ecstasy."

Be it the music critic or the layman, who loves music, all believes that Begum Abida Parveen is unarguably one of the finest voices in the Orient and the queen of mystical singing. Her passionate, robust voice spans three octaves and her powerful renditions of devotional music, her fervid and inspirational singing is an experience not to be missed.
With Mere Dil Se , Abida subtly shifts the goalposts to embrace poetry from Sufi and Sindhi mystics like Wasif Ali Wasif whose Main Nara-E-Mastana stands for the truly divine. In this kalaam, Hazrat Wasif Ali Wasif establishes the relationship between Man and God with powerful imagery. "He who has won the grace and the power of the God and yet lies at His feet is truly among the blessed." The song glorifies that moment where there is no difference between the God and his follower.

In quick succession, she paints intensely moving word pictures from Hazrat Zaheen Shah Taji (Tune Deewana Banaya), Hazrat Khwaja Ghulam Farid (Hum Ko Pasand Yaar Ki), Hazrat Waris Shah (Jis Din Ke Saajan), Hazrat Misri Shah (Pritam Mat Pardes), Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (Ajab Nain Tere), and Sarchal Sarmast (Hairan hua Hairan hua).

Abida is so deeply immersed in the world of Sufi philosophy, that hearing her pure voice rise to the rafters is a spiritual epiphany. It is the spiritual significance of the poetry, expressed in most touching down-to-earth words, harmonised with a musical setting that makes a direct appeal to the hearts and souls of the listeners, including the elite and the man in the street.

Abida's earliest memories are all linked to her passion for music and her desire to sing. Born in 1954 in Larkana, Sindh, into a family that maintains close associations with the shrines of Sufi saints, she was imparted her initial training in the art of music from her father Ustad Ghulam Haider and later from Ustad Salamat Ali Khan of Sham Chorasia gharana.

Her father, whom she refers to reverently as Baba Sain, was also a singer and had his own small music school. As she was growing up, Abida attended her Father's music school and that was where her foundation in music was laid. Her father was devoted to the Sufi poets and it is from him that Abida gets her devotional inspiration.

Abida's record-busting music albums with Times Music like Jahan-e-Khusrau, Bulleh Shah, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Hazrat Shah Husain and Kabir are masterpieces of mystical inspiration, passion and talent. With Mere Dil Se, Abida Parveen explores the very finest of the poet-mystics of the sub-continent. Faiz and Kabir have also scaled to the top of AOL -Time Warner World Music Charts.

Credit - Bob

This Pakistani singer is one of the most popular voices in her nation, known for her work in a number of styles and languages. She has done traditional music, classical, and a hybrid of the two--which is what this collection showcases. Underpinned by sarangi, harmonium, and percussion, these tracks are often orchestrated with lush strings, bits of guitar and such. Many go way over the line into a crossbreed of popular western and eastern modes. Think Indian film music more than Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The voice is the thing, though, and there's no denying her right to stardom. It is a plaintive, sometimes fragile voice that wraps around songs of lovelorn supplication like a silk glove. If you like Indian film music and qawwal, and you are unfamiliar with this marvelous singer, this is a fair place to start an exploration. -- Although she is one of Pakistan's greatest modern vocalists, Parveen has been almost completely overshadowed by the international stardom of the late sufi qawwal master, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Khan, of course, is one of the few Pakistani musicians whose records are widely available in the West, though this excellent best-of provides a nice glimpse into Parveen's own large catalog. If anything, she is much more stylistically diverse, offering romanitic as well as devotional music, and while not as technically dynamic vocalist, she is no less expressive. Highly recommended, especially if you were ever on the Fateh Ali Khan bandwagon, but wanted a little something more diverse

Credit - Dolly

The uncrowned Sufi Queen
Author: Karin Bergquist



Pakistani singer Abida Parveen's truly amazing voice has earned her the status as heir to the crown of the late Qawwali legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Though not as immediate as the surging ecstasies of the big Qawwali ensembles, her intimate, charged music offers much to those prepared to give themselves over to it.
"Parveen could sing a shopping list and have an audience weeping", wrote BBC's Peter Marsh when Abida Parveen's album 'Visal' was released in 2002.

Abida Parveen is known for the dazzling quality of her voice and her vivid musical imagination allied to her utterly feminine sensibility, all used to tell the Beloved the states His love makes us endure.

A real cult is now devoted to Abida, proof indeed of the way this immense artist gives herself over entirely to her public in her music; so long as they demand it, she is ready to go on giving the best of her gifts to serve the kalam (the Word) of the Sufi saints. Sometimes she will linger on a low note, sometimes she'll rise to dizzy heights with oval ornaments of dazzling virtuosity; she seems to be in a state of ecstatic communion with her audience, inspired by an energy coming directly from Him whose praises she sings.

Very few Westerners understand the texts. Parveen sings about love of the only one, and the wish to be united with this divine creature. But she interprets the Sufi poetry with a clear diction and a gentle, often melancholy presence which makes the message go right in.

Abida Parveen gets her material from the old texts of the Sufi poets and herself composes the music, which is as richly ornamented as the warm voice embracing the stanzas. The ancient, soulful strains of Sufi music can some day unite the sparring neighbours India and Pakistan, says Abida Parveen in an interview in Indo-Asian News Service, April 2003:

"With the two countries sharing so much common cultural and traditional legacy, peace will prevail one day. Sufi music will have a role in unifying them".

The Sufi movement created a rich composite culture blending Islamic and indigenous cultures during Mughal rule in the Indian subcontinent. The movement was reflected in art, music, religion and philosophy. The Sufi movement coupled with the Bhakti movement opposed religious orthodoxy and caste and creed divisions and gave India such saints as Kabir, Namdev and Baba Sheikh Farid.

"The basic tenet of Sufism is the same: love for god and your fellow brethren," says Parveen: "In different areas, different saints propagated this one message using the idiom of that area and its traditional music so the masses could understand. Once you understand the message, you will realise that basically we are all the same."

"Music transcends the barriers of language, culture and creed. Even if an Englishman who doesn't understand the words listens to Sufi music, it will transport him to ecstasy," she says.

Indeed Parveen's music has a power to communicate across racial and denominational divides.

Credit - Adi

Mystic messenger - Abida Parveen
By: Narendra Kusnur
September 28, 2002

VOCAL POWER:
Abida Parveen
When this writer last met Pakistani singer Abida Parveen in January 2001, her album Raqs-e-Bismil had just been released by Music Today. At that time, her following in India was restricted to a select but devoted few, who adored her powerful voice and her ability to render Sufiana poetry with immaculate ease.

In these last 20 months, Abida's popularity in India has multiplied manifold. While Music Today and Sony Music released a few albums, Times Music came out with a series of albums, featuring the poetry of Amir Khusro, Baba Bulleh Shah, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Hazrat Shah Hussain. Though Abida has been immensely popular abroad since the late '80s, it's only during the last two years that she's attained a cult following in India.

Whether Abida sings Sufiana kaafis, ghazals or regional folk songs, she has regularly transported listeners into a world of spiritual ecstasy. Though her voice isn't conventionally feminine, it moves listeners with its sheer strength and depth. Because of her choice of repertoire, many people tend to describe her as a successor to the late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. But she's different on two counts – she has a presentation style of her own, and she doesn't involve herself in experimentation and crossover ventures.

Yet, despite her fame and musical brilliance, Abida remains extremely simple and unassuming. She gets up and greets those who come into the room, and speaks in a friendly tone. With a smile, she says: "As a musician, my duty is to convey the message of my elders, and help listeners understand those messages. These include people like Nizamuddin Auliya, Khusro, Bulleh Shah, Baba Farid, Hazrat Shah Hussein and Hazrat Sultan Bahu, who are the people of God."

It was with this thinking that the Times Music series was conceptualised. Explains Abida: "In the past, I have sung some of the spiritual works of Hazrat Amir Khusro, Baba Bulleh Shah and Hazrat Shah Hussain, as also the ghazal poetry of Faizsaab. But doing specific albums of these musicians gave me a chance to explore their work deeper."

Abida says that whenever she takes up a project, she immerses herself completely in its creation. "For instance, when I did the album Faiz By Abida, I didn't sing any six or seven songs which came easily to me. I spent four or five months researching the poetry of Faiz, and understanding his style of writing so that I could express myself clearly. Similarly, while preparing the Hazrat Shah Hussain album, I studied the poetic style of the period which Hussain belonged," she elaborates.

Satisfied with the response to these albums, Abida is doing a few more poet-based projects, arranged by Bhavdeep Jaipurwale, who worked on her earlier albums. She has recently recorded the works of Sant Kabir, and for that, she again had to research his work a lot. "I had sung some of his dohas in the past, but to do the album, I needed a more in-depth understanding of his work," she says.

On this visit, Abida says she has even worked on a ghazal album that traverses poets from Wali Dakhni and Siraj Aurangabadi to Faiz, right up to Naseer Kazmi. She's planning another album of Faiz's poetry, because "one album isn't enough to convey everything he stood for", and an album containing the Sufiana writing of Hazrat Sultan Bahu, "who hasn't been sung too much."

Is she fond of any specific type of poetry? She replies: "For me, the message is important. A poet who is able to convey something deep will always appeal to me. God has given us the power of 'sur' to convey messages, not necessarily to provide entertainment."

Asked why she has stuck to traditional renditions instead of going in for modern or western arrangements, Abida says: "A lot of people have asked me to add a western flavour to the songs.

But I think that our own music is so rich that it doesn't require such additions. If you add too many instruments, the music loses its flavour. Moreover, in my kind of music, it's important to convey the message, instead of depending too much on the orchestration."

Finally, we ask her how many students she has. Abida says: "I want to start a school where dedicated students can come and learn. But at the moment, I am still a student. I shall remain a student forever."

That statement is sufficient to describe what a down-to-earth person Abida is.

Credit - Adi

Abida Parveen, Visal
Picture of: Visal

Artist:
Abida Parveen
Label:
World Village

KEY TRACKS

* Royo wethi roe
* Are logo tumhara kya

REVIEW BY PETER MARSH

Long feted as the heir to the crown of the late Qawwali legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani singer Abida Parveen is the owner of one of the most remarkable voices on the planet.

On this recording Parveen devotes herself to Kafi, a strain of mystical and often radical poetry originating from what is now the troubled border between India and Pakistan. These are love poems in many senses of the word and the Sufi ideal of Visal(union with The Beloved) is often expressed in ways that seem as worldly as they are spiritual.

Whether any awareness of Sufism is necessary to fully understand this music is a moot point; but without getting into Cultural Studies territory it's clear that the best devotional music (whether Gregorian Chant, John Coltrane or Le Mystere de Voix Bulgares ) has a power to communicate across racial and denominational divides, and Parveen's ecstatic flights are no exception.

This is a more reflective music than the joyous abandon of Qawwali; tabla and dholak provide the shifting, cyclical heartbeats that underpin Parveen's song, shadowed by harmonium and bansuri flute. Parveen's gloriously honeyed voice is a warm, agile instrument, suffused with sadness and joy, strength and fragility in equal measure.

Even on the closing "Are logo tumhara kya", whose more insistent groove pushes into Qawwali territory, she tempers the joyous defiance of the poem with a deep yet slightly ungraspable melancholy. With such a voice Parveen could sing a shopping list and have an audience weeping (though I doubt we'd ever get to test that particular theory).

Like Nusrat, Mahalia Jackson, Coltrane or even Tim Buckley, Parveen seems to be channeling the music rather than creating it. Every phrase is a surprise, each repeat of a melodic line a slight variation as voice, harmonium and flute unravel lingering, circular melodies.

Beautiful, uplifting stuff; though not as immediate asthe surging ecstacies of the big Qawwali ensembles, her intimate, charged music offers much to those prepared to give themselves over to it. Recommended.

Credit - Adi

I sing for India-Pakistan peace: Abida Parveen (INTERVIEW)

By Hindol Sengupta, Indo-Asian News Service,

New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Listening to Pakistani Sufi singer Abida Parveen has often been described as a divine experience, but the singer says she often hopes that rulers in India and Pakistan would listen more carefully to her message of peace.

"In Sufism, there is only peace," Parveen told IANS in an interview. "I have always believed that music and the arts is the best way to achieve peace.

"When I sing, I sing of peace, of harmony and culture."

Often called the heir to the legendary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Parveen is today perhaps the world's most renowned Sufi singer.

But she is quick to avoid comparisons with Khan. "He was just too great," smiled Parveen.

"He was - is and forever will be - way above anyone else. I don't even come close to him. I try to sing as honestly as I can but he was the ultimate master."

When she sings, curly shoulder-length hair swinging in ecstasy, arms raised in complete devotion and surrender to the higher spirit that Sufis always sing to, Parveen is carrying forward an age-old tradition with awe-inspiring dedication.

BBC's Peter Marsh famously said of her, "Parveen could sing a shopping list and have an audience weeping."

Born in 1954, Abida Parveen grew up in Larkana, Sindh. Her father, Ghulam Haider, ran a music school.

Raised in a home dominated by the Sufi way of life, Parveen, unlike most other Muslim women, was encouraged to sing. Her father saw her talent early on and used to take her to sing at religious festivals.

Later her husband, the late Ghulam Hussain Sheikh, a senior producer in Radio Pakistan, became her mentor and she studied classical vocal music with Salamat Ali Khan.

Today, more than 100 albums later, the Parveen legend has been firmly established. But tell her that she has a magical grip on her audience and she grows shy: "It's a little too much. I just know that music is my greatest love and that music can work magic in people's lives."

That's the magic Parveen hopes to achieve in bringing peace between India and Pakistan, especially through a new Sufi centre that she is promoting with filmmaker Muzaffar Ali and new-age guru Deepak Chopra.

"This centre will work to promote a sense of well being between the peoples (of India and Pakistan)," said Parveen, who has sung in the world's most famous concert halls and also at village shrines.

"Music, I have always believed, is a great healer," she said.

Credit - Adi

Abida Parveen - an interview

Author: Dr.Mandar

Right in the middle of our telephonic interview, Abida Parveen – the uncrowned queen of Sufi music sweetly asks, "How do you think I am answering? Am I doing alright?" I am simply taken aback by her humility and mumble something about being honored to be having this opportunity to interview her. Even thousands of miles away – she is in Islamabad, I am in Sharjah- one can easily sense that her endearing humility, charming simplicity and gentle sensitivity are for real. They are not some gimmicky put-on acts. At times I have difficulty fathoming her chaste Urdu but there is no difficulty in making my final judgment on her. She is what she is – a class act!



Here are the snippets.



On Her Childhood and Early Musical Training:



My father Ustad Ghulam Haider was a very good singer and he used to run a small school for music in Larkhana – my hometown in Pakistan's Sindh province. There, he used to teach classical music and also, the music from the Dargaahs to children. So musical was the whole atmosphere that I imbibed music naturally, without any push from anyone.



On Sufi Music:



Sufi music is based on deep spiritualism. It's a music created by saints and is the mother of classical music. The purpose of music is not only entertainment – that is temporary. In the larger picture, music was created to describe good and Godly things in a good and melodious manner. It is a medium to extend the chain of humanity.

In classical music, the singer repeats the same line with different variations in a Khayaal. What is that? It is nothing but a manner of a passionate prayer – a cry of pain, an attempt to call the God in different ways.



The way in which Sufi saints have created tunes is simply marvelous. They have brought out the exact expression of the words through their musical compositions. That intensity of emotions is so strong that it is bound to touch the listener's heart. That's why that music has survived for centuries and will always continue doing so.



The music of Sufi saints is immortal. Sufi saint Hazrat Amir Khusro invented so many raags like Yaman. Even instruments like sitar and tabla were his creations. Recently I have finished a project of recording another Sufi saint Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai's writings.



On other musical genres:



Whether it is a Geet, Ghazal, Thumri or Kaafi, I have never taken any musical genre lightly. The artist should never think that he or she is perfect. Only God is perfect. I have strived hard to bring that requisite style and expression in each of my musical offering.



On her electric movements while singing:



God has given the gift of music to man and He is the one who makes all these things happen. Everything simply gels together – your voice, your mind, your heart and your body. It's a trans-like state when neither the singer nor the audience really know what they are doing except feeling that great divine existence within them. The singer then just becomes a medium for distributing God's light to people. It's a miraculous state when the God makes you come face to face with your inner self.



On the new experiments in today's music:



As the times change, new experiments are bound to take place in any field and music is no exception. For me, spiritual music is the real music; the rest is just transient. The real has to be there, otherwise where would the copies go? The new experiments might succeed for a while but they will never take place of spiritual music. After all, what could be greater than the thing that gives you the opportunity to be close to the Supreme Being?



On her experiences with Indian artistes:



Recently I had gone to India to record an album – "Faiz by Abida". I was recording in one of the rooms in Western In-door studio and when I knew that Lataji (Lata Mangeshkar) was also recording in another room, I went to meet her. Once Didi knew about my presence, she brought her entire family to visit me. She sat for long hours chatting with me on various topics and when somebody asked how a great singer like her was praising a Pakistani singer like me, she just said, "The real gold always shines!" It was a touching compliment from such a legendary artist.



Similarly in various functions in India and Pakistan, I have met famous artists like Rekha, Gulzar and Vinod Khanna and have been surprised to know how they appreciate my music.



On another Sufi music great- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan:



He was such a fabulous artiste. We shared the same stage on many occasions and they all were precious moments. He was one of the few Indo- Pak artistes who knew exactly how to sing to a mehfil. How to sing ghazal, qawwali, Kaafi or sargam on stage in presence of thousands in an arresting manner so that every one in the audience would get to understand the nuances is not an easy art but he was a master of it.



On taking up film music:



The offers are aplenty – both from India as well as from Pakistan. But still I am not sure. After walking this different musical path for so many years, I have to be really choosy about picking the right type of songs. When an album like "Faiz by Abida" reaches world music charts, I feel that people have already accepted what I am doing in my own way.



On her US concerts:

My concerts in US have been well-appreciated and even, reputed news- papers like New York Times and Los Angeles Times carried articles on them. In one of the recent concerts in Central Square, people were literally falling off in a trans-like state, prompting the police to wonder what exactly I was singing!

Credit - Adi