(b Kabul, 1882; d Kabul, 1955). Afghan singer and composer. He was the son of Ustād Sattarju, a professional sitār player from Kashmir who had been brought to Afghanistan as a court musician during the reign of Abdur Rahmān Khān (1880–1901). Qāsem was the student of Ustād Qurbān Ali and Ustād Piāra Khān. He was the principal court singer during the reign of the progressive King Amanullāh Khān (1919–29) and became his close personal friend. Ustād Qāsem is often described as ‘the father of Afghan music’ because of his pivotal role as originator of a new kind of Afghan music, the Kabuli ghazal style which has remained the predominant form of Afghan vocal art music to the present day. He created this style by setting Persian and Pashto texts to music from North India. He also performed Afghan folksongs in a style that owed much to Hindustani music. He visited Delhi several times to make 78 r.p.m. records, many of which have survived and been reissued in compact disc format.
ABDUL-WAHAB MADADI (with JOHN BAILY)