Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (نصرت فتح علی خان, October 13, 1948 to August 16, 1997) was a singer and performer of Qawaali, a style of Islamic religious singing developed by the Sufi denomination. In his native Pakistan, Nusrat did not become a singer until he was nearly thirty years old when, he said in various interviews, he received a call from Allah to become a singer. His powerful voice made him a superstar in the Islamic world, and he was the first South Asian singer to reach audiences in Western culture.
In 1992 he collaborated with Norwegian jazz musician Jan Garbarek on Ragas and Sagas, and he reached out to Western audiences with a series of records produced by Canadian guitarist Michael Brook. In 1995, he collaborated with Eddie Vedder on the soundtrack to Dead Man Walking. His contribution to that and several other soundtracks and albums, as well as his friendship with Peter Gabriel, helped to increase his popularity in Europe and the United States.
Nusrat was responsible for the modern evolution of qawaali. Although probably not the first to do so, he popularized the blending of khyal singing and techniques with Qawaali. This in short took the form of improvised solos during the songs using the sargam technique which the performer sings the names of the notes he is singing (for example in western notation it would be "do re re mi".) He also attempted to blend Qawaali music with more western styles such as techno.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan holds the world's record for the biggest recording output by a Qawaali artist (a total of 125 albums of recorded music).
His early career is the subject of a documentary film made in 1997 entitled Nusrat Has Left the Building...But When?
After Nusrat passed away in 1997, his nephew Rahat Fateh Ali Khan took up his torch and followed in his footsteps as a singer.
Nusrat Fateh AliKhan the most revered Qawwal came to prominence...
Nusrat Fateh AliKhan the most revered Qawwal came to prominence to western audiences through his collaborations with Eddie Vedder and Tim Robbins (Dead Man Walking soundtrack), Michael Brook, Massive Attack, and Peter Gabriel (Last Temptation of Christ soundtrack) which would result in a number of tours and albums released in North America and Europe.
I have dedicated this special section in remembrance of Nusrat Fateh AliKhan who by far is the most internationally recognized, respected and loved Pakistani Musician to date.
Nusrat Fateh AliKhan was the world's most preeminent interpreter of Qawwali music, the religious chanting song form of Sufi mysticism (an esoteric branch of Islam).
Nusrat was perhaps the best-known and greatest performer of Qawwali,...
Pakistan-born Nusrat Fateh AliKhan, the most revered and prolific Qawwali singer in recording history, took an obscure religious musical form and, with the help of some sympathetic collaborators and promoters, made it commercially and artistically viable in the western world.
Feeds |
Contact