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Secret Planet and the Center for Cultural Vibrancy present the Saami Brothers for a special matinee performance in Richmond, Virginia at Révéler Experiences on Sunday March 22! Hailing from Karachi, Pakistan, the Saami Brothers are the living custodians of one of the world’s oldest and most powerful musical legacies. A Sufi dynasty with an unbroken lineage spanning nearly 800 years, the family are master practitioners of two deeply spiritual and technically demanding traditions: Khayal and Qawwali. You do not want to miss this rare opportunity to experience this music in an intimate setting. Ticket link in bio
Passed down solely through oral tradition, their vocal artistry embodies a rare level of mastery. The Saami family uniquely blends the contemplative stillness of Khayal—rooted in breath, silence, and tone—with the ecstatic, rhythmic devotion of Qawwali. This expert juxtaposition creates performances that are both meditative and electrifying, offering a transcendent serenity found only in such profound command of form. Equally at home performing each tradition on its own or weaving them together in a single set, they are dynamic, genre-defying artists whose range continues to captivate audiences worldwide. Each performance is spontaneous, deeply felt, and entirely unique.
Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music that originated over 750 years ago, blending Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and South Asian musical traditions. Rooted in the spiritual teachings of Islam and Sufi poetry (Qawwali means “knowledge of words”) its rhythmic intensity, melodic improvisation, and emotionally charged repetition aim to guide listeners toward a state of wajd—a trance-like experience of spiritual ecstasy. Over the last 50 years, a commercialized form of Qawwali has gained global prominence through legendary artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. While this modern version flourished internationally, an ancient and deeply awe-inspiring strand of the tradition has been carefully preserved by the heralded Saami Family of Pakistan. Central to Qawwali’s origin is the figure of Amir Khusrau, a 13th-century poet and musician often credited with formalizing the roots of the tradition. Qawwali has been shaped and preserved for centuries through hereditary lineages known as gharanas, or musical families, first developed by Khusrau.
The Saami are fierce guardians of the oldest and most distinguished of these lineages: the Qawwal Bacha Dehli Gharana—a musical school of thought founded by Khusrau himself. The Saami’s represent one of the last families continuing this tradition in its purest form. Equally vital to their lineage is Khayal—meaning “imagination”—a classical, largely wordless vocal tradition developed by Amir Khusrau that laid the foundation for the Qawwali music that followed. The Saami family are master vocalists, capable of rendering a rare 49-note microtonal scale with subtle precision and endless melodic variation.
In recent years, this ancient tradition has found new resonance in the United States. Over the last 18 months, the Saami Family, with support from the Center for Cultural Vibrancy, the group has spent significant time in the New York region, becoming the de facto qawwals of the Big Apple and cultivating a passionate following across the city’s diverse musical communities.
#Qawwali #centerforculturalvibrancy #secretplanet #saamibrothers #revelerexperiences
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Event Venue
Révéler Experiences, 3108 West Cary Street,Richmond, Virginia, United States
Tickets
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