Sanaullah Qawwal -ہائی روشن محمد کے نورسے / Dil Hai Raushan Muhammad Ke Noor Se (Pakistan Twin 3558)
This one is simply one of the most powerful, expressive and unorthodox Qawwali troupes ever recorded, which is saying something as I've never heard a non-powerful or non-expressive Qawwali band! The real oddity here lies in the odd choice of instrumentation; that is, a combination of clarionets, a xylophone, a violin and... a banjo? What? How did a banjo find its place in a Pakistani Muslim devotional song? Is it even a banjo, or some other plucked Hindustani instrument misinterpreted by the label? The banjo can only be heard on "Tum ho kaali kamli vaale", and even the word "heard" is a stretch throughout most of the record. At first, I wasn't sure it was there at all, but at points in the aforementioned side, you can heard an unmistakable plucking sound! This is, of course, earth shattering, as it implies that there were enough banjos in Pakistan in 1930 for one to have been accidentally recorded here. Doubtless, other Indian, Pakistani and even Burmese records billed as banjo definitely exist, but I was unable to find transfers of them.
The glaring question is, of course: is this a sarod? There is so much more chance of a sarod being recorded than a banjo, right? Plus, many of those "banjo" solos are just a case of record executives failing to name an instrument correctly. This is remarkably common among early Indian discs. The more famous examples are of the sitar being referred to as "Indian guitar" and the pungi as "Indian bagpipes". Even in American and British recordings does the banjo get obscured by its accompanists as it is a much quieter instrument than a fiddle or guitar. The third possibility is that it's a mandobanjo/banjo-mandolin/banjolin or whatever the modern name is. Those were certainly popular among people in England simply because they are much easier to learn than a five-string banjo. They are also plucked, they also produce this high pitched sound that appears sometimes on the disc, there is a chance that it could've been seen in Pakistan at this time! What do you think? I'm stumped; by determining whether or not there is a banjo present, but also by how great both sides of this record are. Sadly, this is another case of a performer making a niche but great record, it selling poorly or being pressed in tiny numbers, the artist never beings invited back to record, and finally, all but a handul of copies of their sole musical legacy are lost, destroyed or otherwise obscured from our ears. The vernacular music enthusiast knows this story all too well!
Music transferred from my original 78rpm shellac record 08/12/24.
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