Blu-Qawwali will be a collection of new hybrid works that will link the traditions of jazz and the vocal style of Pakistani qawwali. As a Pakistani-American jazz musician my music is a unique blend of influences from both my birthplace within the Indian subcontinent and my adopted homeland, the U.S. Since then, my appreciation of qawwali and its potential to enhance my compositional ability has deepened exponentially. My current ambition is to further expand my knowledge of the genre through a more nuanced and consequential approach, directly engaging an ensemble of both jazz and qawwali musicians. The funds from New Music USA will help to galvanize the process in the following manner: compose initial material, pay for multiple rehearsals over the course of a year, record the group to be released as my sixteenth album.