Our Ghazal Rocks!

image from: http://www.johordt.gov.my

Last August, group Ghazal Seri Maharani won third place at The Sixth International Music Festival, Sharq Taronalari (Melodies of the Orient) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, recently. The group took home a trophy, a certificate and prizes worth US$3,000 (RM10,283). The group, which recently changed its name to Saujana Ghazal, is a leading ghazal group from Muar, Johor, the birth place of ghazal music. It was formed 20 years ago and is fronted by Abu Bakar Ali, the gambus player of the group. Over the years, it has gone through several line-up changes following the death and retirement of some members. The group has seven musicians and two female vocalists, Norsiah Md Amin and Hazlinawati Zainuddin. During the festival, Ghazal Seri Maharani performed alongside other winners at Registan Square, Uzbekistan. Among the songs performed were Kenangan di Samarkand (Memory of Samarkand), which was adapted from R. Azmi's hit Kancing Suasa. According to the judges, Ghazal Seri Maharani's winning factor lies in its ability to combine various instruments, including harmonium, tabla, gambus, guitar, violin, tambourine and maraca, with Malay, Hindi, Arabian and Uzbekistan melodies.

WHAT EXACTLY IS GHAZAL?

A genre popular in Johor, but found also throughout the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, is the ghazal or love poem, which came to Johor from Riau-Lingga before the 1870s. Ghazal is sung in Malay, but its songs reflect much Hindustani and Persian influence. It was originally sung in the Hindi language, accompanied by the sharinggi, a traditional chordaphone, the Indian sitar, tabla and harmonium, and is still publicly performed in its original form within the Malaysian Indian community. The violin and the gambus (Malay lute, originally Middle Eastern ‘ud) have since replaced the sharinggi and the sitar. Today, modern ghazal groups also use such instruments as the mandolin, guitar, flute, Japanese drum, accordian, clarinet and ukelele. Ghazal music is non-notational and based on the Indian tal, which basically means that it is built from blocks of rhythmic patterns. (Mohd Ishak 1978). The original form of the Urdu ghazal is still performed in Malaysia, among the Indian community. In this case, the original Indian instruments are all used, but to these are added the Western bass guitar, rhythm and lead guitars, electronic keyboard, and percussion instruments such as the shaker and the tambourine. Dr Gita Jayaram and Samuel J. Dass are active in promoting, through concert performances, this syncretic folk music form in Malaysia.

Source: http://www.musicmall-asia.com/malaysia/syncretic/ghazal.html