About
Mir Mukhtiyar Ali, born on 1 August 1972 in the village of Pugal near Bikaner, Rajasthan, is a Sufi folk singer of the semi-nomadic Mirasi community of the Thar desert. He is a 26th-generation musician in a family that has kept the oral tradition of Sufiana Qalam alive, and blends the Rajasthani folk idiom with a refined classicism to sing the poetry of Kabir, Mira and Sufi poets such as Bulleh Shah and Amir Khusrau.
Ali gained wide recognition after being featured in Shabnam Virmani's Kabir Project documentary Had Anhad, making his international debut in 2007 and performing across Europe, Canada and China. He has sung for films including Finding Fanny, winning the GiMA Award for Best Music Debut for the song Fanny Re, and remains devoted to teaching and to sustaining a tradition he fears may fade.
The artistry
Ali sings in a heartfelt, unadorned voice that blends Rajasthani folk with classical refinement, giving the dohas of Kabir and the verse of Sufi poets a meditative, borderless quality. His recitals dissolve the line between poetry and music.
Ali offers a host a soul-stirring solo Sufi folk performance of Kabir and mystic poetry, ideal for Kabir, Sufi and heritage programmes and for contemplative or literary settings. [Atlas Assessment]
A leading living voice of the desert Sufi folk tradition, carrying Kabir and Bhakti-Sufi poetry to national and world stages.