Sidi Sufis: African Indian Mystics of Gujarat (review)

The twelve tracks on this CD present an exciting introduction to the musical world of the Sidi Sufis of Gujarat. These Muslim Sufis are descendants of East Africans who crossed the Indian Ocean seven or more centuries ago. They perform sacred songs, instrumental music, and ecstatic dance (damal) at shrines to their African saint, Gori Pir, whom they invoke along with other Sidi saints and saints of the Chishti Sufi order during their exuberant and energetic rituals. These musical recordings, made by Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy mostly in 2001-2002 in her position as a senior research fellow with the American Institute of Indian Studies, provide the first commercially available sampling of these ritual vocal and instrumental forms and styles.

Catlin-Jairazbhoy's compact disc is especially welcome given the dearth of written and recorded material on African-Indianmusic in general. In her short liner notes, the author draws connections between Sidi musical instruments and rhythmic patterns and various "African models" from which they are "often derived." She points out that the footed, pegged mugarman drum, the malunga struck musical bow, and the Mai Mishra coconut rattle are much closer to instruments found in Africa and even in Afro-Brazil than to those of western India, from which these Sidi instruments remain "quite distinct." She also notes the interlocking drum patterns of the Sidi musicians that are rare in India except among tribal peoples. These brief observations may satisfy the casual audience but they only serve to whet the appetite of those desiring more in-depth discussion and exploration of the African-Indian diasporic link.

The ongoing research on Sidi music by ethnomusicologists Amy Catlin Jairazbhoy and Nazir Jairazbhoy has fortunately resulted in more recent publications that address African-Indian history, music, and ritual. In 2004 the Jairazbhoys produced two videotapes: From Africa to India: Sidi Music in the Asian Diaspora (2004a) that surveys Sidi music and dance traditions in several Indian states, and The Sidi Malunga Project: Rejuvenation of the African-Indian Musical Bow (2004b), which documents amusical training camp for Sidi youth held in central Gujarat in February 2003. For teachers, students, and scholars alike, these videos present rich visual material for possible use in conjunction with the CD. A further publication by Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy in collaboration with historian Edward Alpers is an edited volume of essays on African Indians, focusing on various aspects of the lives of Sidi peoples living in Gujarat and Karnataka (Alpers and Catlin-Jairazbhoy 2004; see also Kassebaum 2000). Of particular interest to ethnomusicologists is the chapter by Catlin-Jairazbhoy on Sidi musical performance, identity, and globalization.

The opening instrumental track on the CD establishes the importance of drumming in Sidi rituals. A naqqara (large kettledrum) player sounds a distinctive pattern that varies in rhythm and dynamics during its 7-minute, 25 second length. The track notes identify the occasional sounds of a conch and a clattering chain but forego musical analysis in favor of a description of the ritual events. The drumbeats accompany the devotees walking around the saint Gori Pir's tomb, while women kneel to receive the saint's spirit.

Two other tracks on the CD present instrumental solos. A short performance on the malunga (musical bow) on track 4 displays a remarkable variety of timbres obtained through the player's manipulation of its gourd resonator. Players use the sounds "to communicate words such as 'Allah hu nabi ji' " ("He is Allah, respected Prophet"), words that the drum rhythm also "speaks" in track 5 (Disc Notes). A link with African talking drums would seem to be evident here, although the author does not identify the malunga as a "talking"musical bow. A third instrumental track (no. 6) presents a rhythmic drum pattern, the twelve-beat tambol cycle emphasizing...