Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
(click to play)
Here's a cautionary tale with a quick moral: If you want to see a performer, go. Do it at your earliest chance, lest you miss out.
I squandered my only two opportunities to see Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan during his too-short career - the first time I thought I'd check him out some other time. The second time I was in Delaware and couldn't see my way clear to make the hour-and-a-quarter drive to DC. Bad move, Dave.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan died of heart failure on Saturday 16 August, 1997 at the age of 49. He was in London, apparently on the way to Lahore for a kidney transplant.
Nusrat was the greatest living Qawwal - a singer of Sufi devotional music - from a family noted for producing hundreds of years of remarkable singers. Nusrat had an incredible voice. A beautiful, husky, melodic throat - and the guy could belt, to boot.
The music tracks above and the text below (from Peter Gabriel's wonderful Xplora I CD-ROM) will tell you more than I can about one of the finest singers of our time. Take a few minutes to check them out. You'll need Shockwave to hear the audio cuts. Please let me know if you have trouble with this page.
A great voice has been stilled and the world is now a bit too quiet. Listen up and be rewarded... -DC
Notes from Peter Gabriel's XPLORA I CD-ROM - copied complete:
"Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is a man of impressive, even daunting stature. The emotional intensity and soaring power of his voice transcend all boundaries of language and religion and have popularised this beautiful and inspirational music beyond Muslim people to audiences worldwide."
"'Qawwali' is the devotional music of the sufis - the mystical sect of Islam, intended to elevate the spirit and bring both performer and listener closer to God. The illustrious Khan family of classical music masters has been developing the art of 'Qawwali' for over six centuries and today Nusrat is considered its greatest living exponent. He is known as 'Shahen-Shah-a-Qawwali': 'The Brightest Star in Qawwali.'"
"The Khan family have been developing the art of Qawwali for over six centuries. Nusrat himself, however, had no intention of becoming a Qawwal. He only decided to sing after a recurring dream convinced him this was the path to follow. He dreamt he was singing at the famous shrine of Hazrat-Khawaja Moin-ud-Din Chishtie at Ajmer in India. At first he believed it to be absurd - no Qawwali had ever been allowed to sing inside this most famous of Muslim shrines. He was sufficiently persuaded, however, that he should follow in his father's footsteps - and he became the leader of the Qawwali Party in 1971."
"Astonishingly enough, Nusrat's dream proved to be true. In 1979 when the singer and his party visited the famous shrine as pilgrims, Nusrat was invited to sing - the very first Qawwal to have recieved this honor."
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on Wikipedia
Nusrat had a new disc on the way out that month - I believe it's called "The Supreme Collection". Nusrat's cousin, also a Qawwal, had a disc due to release that week too. I believe he is the high voice you hear in the recordings...