RockOm

On this week's podcast episode, out today:

Brook Martinez, founder of the Sufi-Meets-Jazz band Brooklyn Qawwali Party, talks with RockOm's Tom Crenshaw about this week's RockOm Featured Track of the Week ("Mustt Mustt"), the influence of world music superstar Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on the group and the importance of learning about different cultures.

Swing over to the podcast page to download this episode individually or to subscribe to all future podcasts with iTunes or any other podcatching software.

by Brooklyn Qawwali Party

BQP's Website

Paying tribute to one of the world's great vocalists, Brooklyn Qawwali Party formed to honor the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, reworking his thunderous songs for an eclectic, eleven-piece orchestra comprised of groundbreaking jazz musicians. Funky, smart, and loving, BQP captures the joyful spirit of this Pakistani folk music in a unique instrumental blend of jazz and Qawwali. With five horns, guitar, bass, harmonium, and three percussionists, this band's buoyant rhythms will be sure to get you on your feet and clapping.

The New York Times says, "Liking Brooklyn Qawwali Party doesn't depend on if you know what Qawwali is. Nor does it depend on how you feel about Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, its most revered practitioner. This is an 11-piece band with brass, reeds, harmoniums, drums and percussion that piles texture into Mr. Khan's melodies, ultimately transforming them; it's joyous music, and this band adds all the extra fun and funk it knows."

Featured Track: "Mustt Mustt"

"For BQP, the meanings of the songs we perform are illuminated within each individual performance. We're not sufis, we are jazz musicians who hold a deep appreciation for this particular music and the spirit within it. Our music is instrumental, not lyrical; we hope to allow the melodies that we play to inform us of the spirit of the Sufi poetry in the moment of performance, and are always discovering through that process." (Brook Martinez, founder and percussionist)