“Thy will be done. Thy will be done. I don’t know. Please, I don’t know.” -Jessica Ripper

 

Jessica Ripper is a white American with blonde hair, blue eyes and a home in Northern California. Yet, to many in Pakistan, she’s an Islamic-gospel musician who plays the tabla.

In the 700-year-old sufi-singing tradition of Qawwali, she’s a female trailblazer shattering century-old glass ceilings from sufi shrine to sufi shrine. And everywhere else, she’s a statistical anomaly, a bizarre outlier.

Did fate direct Ripper to her path as one of the world’s only white female western qawwali players? Or was it chance and opportunity?

You be the judge.

Show Notes:

1. [00:10] “Villager” by Blue Dot Sessions
2. [02:25] “Villa” by Blue Dot Sessions
3. [04:40] “Allah Hu” by the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Party
4. [06:35] Shahzad Bashir
5. [06:40] “Snowmelt” by Blue Dot Sessions
6. [08:35] Fanna-Fi-Allah
   1. Side note: They’re working on a documentary project about qawwali music. See here.
7. [08:40] On Ripper’s conversion to Islam.
8. [09:00] “Allah Hu” by Fanna-Fi-Allah
9. [10:35] “McKrary” by Blue Dot Sessions
10. [11:20] Richard Michos performing with Shabaz
11. [13:00] Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
12. [13:05] “O Re Piya” by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
13. [13:25] More on Dildar Hussain
14. [13:25] “Tanam Farsuda Jan Para” by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Party
15. [13:55] Nusrat’s collaboration with Michael Brook
16. [13:56] “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel
17. [14:20] Nusrat’s obituary in The New York Times
18. [15:10] “Banjo” by Blue Dot Sessions
19. [16:09] Yassir Chadly
20. [18:20] “Grand Caravan” by Blue Dot Sessions
21. [18:20] A neat infographic of what Islam looks like.
22. [18:25] Additional reading on Sufism and the current state of Islam
23. [19:00] Some online dialogue about music in Islam
24. [19:45] Background on 2010 Lahore Bombing
25. [20:50] Tabla played by Jessica Ripper
26. [21:45] The Urs of Baba Farid
27. [21:50] On Baba Farid
28. [27:15] “3rd Chair” by Blue Dot Sessions
29. [28:03] “Ya Mustafa” by Fanna-Fi-Allah performed at the Urs of Baba Farid
30. [30:05] Riffat Sultana
    1. Recommended listening
31. [30:10] Ustad Salamat Ali Khan
32. [31:50] “Bliste” by Blue Dot Sessions
33. [36:00] Abidah Parveen with members of Fanna-Fi-Allah
34. [39:05] “Illway” by Blue Dot Sessions
35. [41:40] “Xandre” by Blue Dot Sessions
36. [43:55] “Holo” by Blue Dot Sessions
37. The project that started this story:
    1. Written
    2. Video
    3. Download Flipboard on your phone, connect to strong WiFi and open flip.it/tabla in the mobile app for a unique story experience.