Album: Dard kain darvesh
Artiste: Various
Available on: Sa Re Ga Ma

Dard kain darvesh’ is a compilation of ten songs based on Punjabi Sufi poetry of Sheikh Farid, Shah Hussain, Bulleh Shah, Sultan Bahu, Gulam Farid and Warris Shah. Punjab has a literary history and a strong tradition of Sufi poets. Warris Shah used the tragic romance of Heer Ranjha to weave a saga aof his own. Shah Hussain evolved the tradition of sharing grief with one’s mother, using the metaphor of separation. Bulleh Shah enjoyed the beauty of truth, however painful, because it liberated him. Sultan Bahu’s mystical poetry is an expression of disillusionment with formal religion.

It is said about Sufi singing that, “singers must have a deep knowledge of Sufi poetic texts.” In practice, this often means sacrificing musical quality to retain the purity of texts. Puran Shahkoti, the Wadali brothers, Asa Singh Mastana, Surinder Kaur, Jagjit Kaur, Bhupinder Singh and Hans Raj Hans have achieved the rare combination of retaining musical quality and lyrical message in this album.

Album: Sufiana
Artiste: Kavitha Seth
Available on: Times Music

Sufiana’ is yet another album which takes the advantage of increasing interest in Sufi music and poetry in recent times. It comprises seven tracks and is dedicated to Sufi-philosopher-poet and Saint Maulana Jellaludin Rumi.

While four of the poems have been selected from the poetry of Rumi, lyrics for two others— ‘Khuda wahi’ and ‘Sanam ab dil mein’— have been written by Syed Zia Alvi, while another is a traditional Sufi song.

There is an instrumental version of Rumi’s ‘Yaar mera gaar mera’ on the rabab. Instruments like rababd, dholak, flute and harmonium have been used to get the Sufi ‘sound.’

Sufi-folk singer Kavita Seth is a fresh voice in the industry. She recorded a solo for the Mahesh Bhatt movie ‘Gangster’ (‘Mujhe Mat Roko’).  Her popular debut solo sufi song, (self composed) ‘Maula’ in Satish Kaushik’s film ‘Vaada’, was also acclaimed for her unique voice. She has formed a Karwaan Group (sufi group of musicians on guitar, duff, dholak, keyboard, violin, tabla, harmonium).

Album: Welcome (OST)
Artiste: Various
Available on: Junglee Music

The music for six tracks of the film ‘Welcome’ has been composed by Himesh Reshammiya, Anand Raj Anand and Sajid Wajid.

‘Welcome’ the lead track, composed by Sajid-Wajid uses elements hip-hop and pop and is sung by Shaan, Wajid and Soumya Rao. ‘Hoth Rasiley’ is a typical bar song sung in appreciation of the dancer’s beauty and is sung by Shankar Mahadevan, Anand Raj Anand and Shreya Ghoshal. ‘Insha Allah’ is composed by Himesh Reshammiya and sung by Shaan, Krishna and Akruti Kakkar. With easy lyrics and an up-tempo rendition it has typical Reshammiya elements thrown in. ‘Kola laka vellari’ is again a very Reshammiya song, more so because it is sung by him. ‘Ucha lamba kad’ has been composed, written and sung by Anand Raj Anand. ‘Kiya kiya’ is another interesting composition by Anand.