Ghazal Johor" A kind of music played with instruments such as Arab lute, accordion, drum, maracas etc and usually accompanied by singing " That is ghazal as defined by Kamus Dewan apparently referring to Ghazal Johor. Actually, ghazal is a monorhymed Middle Eastern lyric poem in which the first two lines rhyme with a corresponding rhyme in the second line of each succeeding couplet, thus a rhyme scheme that goes: aa, ba, ca ...etc. Originating in the 10th century Persia, ghazal spread to South Asia and Germany. Malaysian sources believe musicians from North India introduced ghazal to Johor in 1920's. Pioneers Datuk Mohd. Salleh bin Perang and Haji Musa Yusof, nicknamed Pak Lomak was credited for popularizing the ghazal. Pak Lomak was a well-known musician who can sing the ghazal in Urdu, 'Gunung Banang', ' Pak Ngah Balik'...are often heard in the repertoire of all Ghazal groups. In the early days, ghazal was called "gamat" which literally mean "extremely noisy" -- due to merry-making. Later, to avoid giving the wrong impression of unruly behaviour it's called ghazal again to denote music of pure love. There are two styles of Ghazal Johor: Ghazal Asli as initiated by Pak Lomak and Ghazal Langgam which follows the modern form found in other songs. An example of Ghazal Langgam is 'Penawar Rindu'. Ghazal had had its ups and downs and ups. During the fifties, it was performed regularly in private houses, open-air stages and wedding receptions--into wee hours of the mornings. When rock music became popular worldwide, ghazal lost its appeal for thirty years until the state government of Johor zealously promote it since early 1990's with much success.
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