Fakhre Alam Qawwal

Kaloo Qawwal and Fakhre Alam Qawwal, along with their contemporary Pearu (or Pyaru) Qawwal were among the earliest artists recorded in India. In 1904, a series of recordings were made of these three artists which gained them immense popularity, leading to reissues and further recordings well into the 1930s and 1940s. Quoting Prof. Regula Qureshi, “During the British period the record industry settled for solo songs of a popular devotional type with little evidence of the authentic sound character of Sufi music. Of course, the three-minute duration of these recordings could hardly permit the freedom to repeat and amplify musical portions which are so essential to that idiom. In fact, the early recordings share stylistic traits with contemporary urban entertainment music like charbaiat and nautanki as well as with the music that accompanied silent films and was later incorporated into film songs. But ultimately the industry did not invent this idiom: it only promoted and projected it, thereby giving preference to what were essentially freelance urban entertainers over the tradition-bearing hereditary qawwali performers who were, and still are, affiliated with Sufi shrines in a quasi-feudal arrangement. Through this preference Pearu, Kaloo, and Fakhr-e-Alam became 'stars' who also performed widely before huge live audiences, both Muslim and non-Muslim, and in settings ranging from open-air grounds to recital halls. They were often dressed in Western clothes and sitting on chairs; Kaloo is remembered for always appearing in an impressively neat Western suit. His photograph embodies a Western-Islamic image with tie, shirt, and jacket he wears a Fez, the formidable Pan-Islamic head-dress favored by elite Muslims at the time.”