If you have any news to share about births and deaths, or if you have written a book or composed a piece of music you think our community would be interested in, please send it to zephyr@inayatiyya.org with the subject heading “News of the Caravan.” Photos are welcome.
Michael Sarmad Harrison
It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Michael Sarmad Harrison on April 17, 2026. Known for helping re-define the role of Just Intonation in the American canon, classical composer he is survived by his wife Marina, his sister JoEllen, two nieces and two nephews.
One of Harrison’s most famous works, Revelation (2005), was described by the music critic Tim Page as, “the most brilliant and original extended composition for solo piano since the early works of Frederic Rzewski.” It placed him directly in the lineage of his teachers, La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Pandit Pran Nath, the Indian classical vocalist known for his profound influence on American minimalist composers. His work with Pran Nath became the foundation for Harrison combining Eastern and Western musical traditions. Prior to the creation of Revelation, Harrison participated in the 1996 PianoForte Concert, in Rome, Italy. The legendary event included Harrison alongside Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Charlemagne Palestine. His insights from that concert were the genesis for Revelation. Among his awards and honors were numerous fellowships, including a Guggenheim in composition (2018). Harrison created the “harmonic piano,” a modified grand piano capable of playing 24 notes per octave using just intonation. The instrument allows for “pure” tuning, creating rich, resonant, and often orchestral-sounding chords that combine Indian classical music ragas with Western classical and minimalist traditions. The piano is located in the archives of the Manhattan School of Music in New York City for study by composition students. Appreciation of Harrison’s work was largely concentrated in music circles, where its other worldly sophistication was most fully recognized. Beginning with the trailer for the film Awakenings, however, he began to be identified for his collaborations with artists in other media. At the time of his death he was working on his Raga Cycle, an ambitious summation and synthesis of his lifetime of study and practice of Hindustani raga, which he received from his teachers Pandit Pran Nath and Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan. The complete Cycle was to be a series of albums and book of piano compositions designed to chart the hours of the day; the first installment, Evening Light, was released in March on Cantaloupe Records.
Jamila Joy Woods – It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Jamila Joy Wood (July 28, 1954 – February 28, 2026). Jamila was a Beloved member of our Madison Sufis Community for the past 40 years. She was a Representative in the Inayatiyya Order, a Cheraga, Healing Conductor, Mentor and Leader of the Dances of Universal Peace. Jamila held monthly classes for many years. She had also been a 37-year member of the Women With Wings singing group. Her guide was Tasnim Fernandez. One week before her passing, Jamila attended a weeklong seminar with Shahabuddin Less on “Death and Dying”. She attended many retreats with Pir Vilayat, Aziza Scott, and Pir Zia. She had attended trainings with Naima, Amida, Mary Risala Laird, Aziza and many others. Jamila was a dedicated journeyer and a worker for the Message from the depths of her heart and soul. She was married to Richard Wood, and has two grown daughters, Amelia and Elizabeth. Three days before her passing, at her monthly Gatha Class, she sang a beautiful Zikr song of “Souls being born and Souls departing.” A Universal Worship was offered in her memory at the Gates of Heaven Synagogue in Madison, Wisconsin. Jamila will be dearly missed in our community as a major anchor of love and support.
