Documentary Films
Lessons From Gulam: Asian Music in Bradford
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by John Baily
color, 49 min, 1986
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Bradford is a mill town in the north of England with a population of around 60,000 Muslims from South Asia. Muslim values are strongly maintained. This film studies Asian music within the community and contrasts music education in the schools with the very different kind of music enculturation in the family.
Gulam Musa is from Gujerat (India), from a Muslim sub-caste whose members are traditionally barbers and musicians. He specializes in singing qawwali, a genre of Muslim devotional music found in India and Pakistan. He runs his own qawwali group and takes part in Asian music workshops in the Bradford schools.
This film is more ethnomusicological than AMIR, examining in greater detail the music itself and what people have to say about it. The film is of special interest to music educators involved with the multi-cultural school curriculum.
Related Resources
Lessons from Gulam Study Guide (PDF)
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