Orchestral Qawwali – Live at Birmingham City Hall

Combining Sufi (Islamic mystic) qawwali (devotional singing) with Western orchestral arrangements, the Orchestral Qawwali project has been making waves for some time now. Composed and directed by singer-songwriter Rushil Ranjan, who plays piano, and fronted by vocalist Abi Sampa, a UK-based practising dentist and trained South Indian classical singer, this latest album, released on vinyl, features a live performance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The songs are largely drawn from the repertoire of the late qawwali king, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, whose influence looms large throughout the performance, not least because tabla player Amrit Dhuffer actually trained with Dildar Khan, who was Nusrat’s tabla player. Abi Sampa’s vocals are powerfully mesmerising, delivered with perfect diction in languages that are not her own. Although many attempts to blend traditional styles with a Western orchestra fall short, this album succeeds by allowing the orchestra to enhance the vocals and the pounding rhythms of qawwali, resulting in a truly compelling listening experience.