Nusrat Performing at a Village, the roots of Qawwali
This Qawwali was probably recorded in late 1970’s in some Village in Pakistan, Very very poor Quality Recording but this one can become the best 20 minutes of your day if you understand the lyrics… don’t believe me???… Why Dont you try it out yourself….
This One is nothing less than a gem, recorded back in 1985 it was one the first performances on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in UK….. and thus presents the Master in his truly melodic, raw, traditional and hypnotic form, The recording had everything from genius Improvisations, great lyrics to awesome Tabla and Harmonium combination, everything that a fan fantasizes.. And to add more stars it features eight years old Rahat at one of the first performance singing an awesome Ghazal. Continue reading
Silsila: Infinite Qawwali is a new and exciting context for setting the heaven-sent world famous voice of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Sahib, arguably the greatest qawwali singer of the modern era. Placing his unique voice back where it came from, among the sounds of the cosmos.
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“Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan died August 16th in London of complications from diabetes. While his popularity has risen of late in the west due to his collaborations with Michael Brook and Peter Gabriel, and the use of his music in popular films, his star never set in Pakistan and India, where his death was felt by hundreds of thousands of sad hearts. He was a singer of power and ecstasy. ”
Because of music’s undeniable power to move the human body as well as the spirit, religions that abhor the tendencies of the flesh have always treated music with suspicion. Many cultures that are dominated by such religions have developed dual musical modes, sacred versus secular, segregating each kind to its proper place and purpose, the church versus the dance hall, the temple versus the brothel, the “Ave Maria” versus Madonna. Continue reading
Heights Of Ecstasy
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was born in 1948 in Fajsalabad, in the Pakistani province of Punjab. He was a member of a family whose male descendants had specialized in the performance of religious music qawwali for over 600 years *. The music has developed on the basis of Sufism – the mystical trend of Islam. The essence of qawwali is prompting a religious trance enabling a direct contact with God.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s father, a great master of qawwali and respected musicologist, taught his son the basics of this music and passed on the knowledge of classical hindu ragas and the Indian art of vocal khyal based on improvisation. Talented, divinely gifted Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan has contributed to the popularization and development of qawwali by combining all these musical genres. In the literary layer, this was Sufi poetry, originated in Persia, India and Punjab province, which constituted the spiritual dimension of his creative activity. Continue reading