Letter to Azam Ali

I wish I could write a letter to Azam Ali. She has been my favorite singer, though I'm the only one I know who has ever heard of her. But she's an internationally famous world music singer who was born in Iran, grew up in India, moved to the United States, and has dedicated her life to performing music that represents a variety of traditional music of Eastern (and sometimes Western) cultures. She has been performing in bands such as Vas and Niyaz, in projects by other artists, and she also does her own solo work. What she says unites her music is a theme of introspection. Her voice is devastating, haunting, and absolutely beautiful.

Perhaps ironically, I first heard her from the soundtrack of the film 300, which was criticized for its comic book portrayal of the "evil Persians" (arguably, it is a comic book movie, it wasn't intended to be culturally accurate or sensitive anyway). But this is how I first heard my favorite Persian singer, and she has since then given me, an American white girl, a gateway to Eastern cultures and music.

When I first heard her voice in the credits, at  1:32 of this track, I absolutely had to find her.

Since then I bought an album from Niyaz and I listened to it throughout college. At first I appreciated it as an introduction to foreign music, her lovely voice, and the ideas of the culture as expressed through the lyrics taken from old poems of famous poets, like Rumi. I was listening to Urdu before I had any idea what Urdu was! And then I showed off this CD to my first Indian friend (I wanted to surprise him) and he told me he knew the song (he thought the music, however, was simply "ok"). And then I realized how close Hindi and Urdu were - once considered together as the language Hindustani. Over the past two years the song "Allah hi Allah" to me sounded at first as syllables, then as words, and now I have the lyrics practically memorized, and they make sense to me.



Still though, my personal favorite song by her is the moody, introspective ballad "Endless Reverie"



"Would that love were something than a false slavery to a god I don't know, and to all the things that tempt me/Then in the light of reason where truth is empty, the alchemy of sin would be revealed.. Waiting by the wayside of an endless reverie, where all the things I run from are sure enough to find me."

I did actually draft a letter to Azam Ali, but I have no idea how to reach her

I really hope someday I can meet her.

If anyone out there is reading, I at least hope I introduced you to a wonderful singer, or shared an appreciation of her that I haven't been able to express so well yet.