About Sabri Brothers
Ghulam Farid Sabri and Maqbool Ahmed Sabri were born in 1930 and 1941, respectively, in East Punjab, India. They began careers as qawwals at the ages of seven and five, and were taught the art of qawwali by their father, a famous Pakistani practitioner of the singing style. They are members of the Sufi sect of the Sabriya of which all members take the name “Sabri.”
Popular film and recording artists in their native country, the Sabri Brothers & Ensemble has toured Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the United States. Although Ghulam Farid Sabri passed away in 1994, the ensemble, under the leadership of Maqbool Ahmed Sabri, continues to perform throughout the world. In 1996, they performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival, as part of a double-bill with alt-rockers Cornershop.
Latest Release
-
Qawwali: Sufi Music of Pakistan
April 3, 1998Qawwali, produced by David Lewiston, was recorded in the United States in April 1978, while the Sabri Brothers & Ensemble were on their second acclaimed tour of the United States. The New York Times called it “the aural equivalent of dancing dervishes," citing the music's "rhapsodic declaimed verses and full-bodied unison chorus” and further describing it as "music of feeling."
