Tonight we listen to the voice of god

Like many of my contemporaries, I have played Jeff Buckley's CDs grey, but know next to nothing about Pakistani Sufi music. Except that it's great. And that Abida Parveen is the queen of that genre. Tonight, this Voice of God and her ensemble are on stage at the National Opera & Ballet.

Without Buckley and his magisterial album Live at Sin-é I would never have come into contact with the genius of the Pakistani Sufis. Listen to his a great (funny, but secretly very good) cover of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khans cracker Yeh Jo Halka Saroor Hae (playing at full volume). I admit, it takes some getting used to Buckley's hilarious attempt at Urdu (!), but after that the heavens open up.

This often very drawn-out, repetitive music with question-and-answer vocals is meant to connect with the supernatural. Listeners and player go into a trance together (at least, that is the intention). It is devotion in the form of sound, using epic poems by great masters and deep thinkers such as Rumi. It's often beautiful on record, but you really have to see this kind of music in the flesh to experience it properly.

If Khan is the king of this genre, Parveen is the queen. Even within Sufi music, Parveen seems larger than life. Exceptional, because in conservative Islamic circles it is not done for a woman to be on stage at all. Surfing YouTube, you will find countless videos online of Parveen's performances, in which the audience goes absolutely crazy in exstatic dancing and singing. Who knows, maybe the same will happen tonight in Amsterdam...

UPDATE: And that was the case! On the right side of the Parveen ensemble, an out-of-shape lady in robes climbed onto the stage and did her best spinning dervish impersonation uninvited. She did nearly lurch into the hall a few times, but that was not to spoil the fun. And at the encore, a cheerfully hopping crowd of Pakistanis arose on the left. This is how it should be.

Incidentally, there is more Sufi-related stuff to visit during the Holland Festival. From tomorrow (7 June), the Stedelijk Museum will host A Possibility of An Abstraction: Square Dance by visual artist Germaine Kruip on show. A (dance) performance inspired by the spinning dervishes, but dancing in a square. It will be something. We will make a video about that, so keep an eye on the site.

Abida Parveen, National Opera & Ballet, 6 June, 8:30pm.