“Suzuki King” Jalal Chandio

Born about 1949 in a poor family of highway town Moro, Nawabshah

district, he had no proper schooling and was able to learn the art of simple writing and reading only. At a tender age he was sent to a tailor's shop where he would stitch buttons and help

the family. Here he worked till the age of ten. While at work he used to sing the songs of other musicians but then he took it seriously and became the student

of Ustad Ali Gul Mahar of Mirpur Mathelo, a virtuoso of Sindhi music. Under his tutelage he attained a virtue that placed him in the rank of such giants as Faqir Abdul Ghafoor, Allan Faqir, Dhol Faqir, Suhrab Faqir and Hussain Bakhsh Khadim.

Jalal Chandio was a singer of love. The theme of love is very popular with the rural audience of Sindh. When he began singing, the theme of love made his songs very popular with the simple-hearted people of the interior of Sindh. With his throaty voice, he could spellbound thousands of listeners, some even joined him and danced to the tune. It is this virtue that took him all over Sindh all the year round. Present at almost every congregation and private session, he had made an unprecedented number of fans, not only in Sindh but beyond that. Technically, he belonged to Yaktarepota school of singing which is mostly meant for the mystic singing but later he developed his own style. With a beautifully decorated Yaktara and chapriyoon (castanets), he sang in the popular Sindhi rhythmic beats Kalwaro, Adho, Dedho and Ektal. This had nothing extraordinary but it only provided versatility to his renditions. That is why in every public transport in the interior of Sindh his songs were played so frequently that made him known as the Suzuki king.