The Saami Brothers: Khayal and Qawwali

The Saami Brothers are from a heralded Pakistani musical family with a long lineage of master vocalists that goes back centuries. Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music that originated over 700 years ago, blending Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and South Asian musical traditions. The Saami family are guardians of the oldest and most distinguished among the qawwal lineages. Equally vital to the Saami’s repertoire is khayal—meaning “imagination” —a largely wordless vocal music tradition that laid the foundation for qawwali. For further information, please contact Prof. Davesh Soneji (dsoneji@upenn.edu).