The crowd were on their feet.Qawwali and Gospel music together? It is not an intuitive choice that any programme director would make and yet the combination of Craig Adams and the Voices of New Orleans with Faiz Ali Faiz and his Qawwali Ensemble from Pakistan was so good as to almost defy description.
Craig Adams (above) Faiz Ali Faiz (below)
The Qawwali/Gospel concert should have opened the Festival
After the disappointment of the lacklustre opening night at Bab El Makina, the second evening's concert was a triumph. Those who experienced it were in no doubt that this should have been the opening night concert.
The collaboration sprung from the previous highly successful fusion between qawwali and flamenco at last year's festival. This project bringing together gospel music and qawwali is a superb demonstration of the talents of both Craig Adams and his group and the Faiz Ali Faiz Ensemble and one in which the result is greater than the sum of the parts. Adams is a great showman whose at times cheeky piano playing was a delight. Faiz Ali Faiz left us in no doubt as to why he is considered the heir to the late great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
From the opening piano riffs to the last fading note the audience was at times spellbound and at others drawn to their feet to cheer and dance. It was a truly remarkable night. More importantly it was a demonstration of everything that the Fez Festival should be about and one that captured the spirit of the Festival.
The sisters rock!
Bab El Makina - a superb venue.
Even the birds attended!
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2 comments:
I love your blog! What a wonderful connection.Just stumbled onto it.
You know New Orleans is a drummer's town.
I put you onto our Second Line of links and would be honored with a place on yours.
Please add me to any email alerts and such too.
Needless to say I hung this wonderful post onto today's Ladder.
Thank you,
Bruce
Editilla ~New Orleans News Ladder
I must say, I had a fantastic time at this festiveal. It was an experience I shall never forget. I truly beleive that music is a universal language, and no matter what the beleif, should be able to come together. This concert was truly a demonstration of that.
Craig Adams
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