Nusrat fateh ali khan best qawwali album

Once they get involved that way they want to experience what is in the lyrics. Before listeners can understand it, they have to like the music first, to be captured by the tempo. вЂњOur music is not just for the sake of listening, but thereвЂ™s a message in there that is through Sufism. Language didnвЂ™t seem to be a barrier, for, like the great gospel-raised American soul singers, Ali Khan employs unfettered, emotional vocals that illuminate his words more than a dictionary ever could.ДЄli Khan, reached by phone in Seattle on Tuesday, explained through interpreters Jeff and Nina Jaffer of Irvine that his music needs no interpreter. Ali KhanвЂ™s local performances in June were sold-out affairs that drew both Indo-Pakistani-Americans and other fans of the music. The singer-who is in the midst of teaching a course in Qawwali and Indian classical music in Seattle at the University of Washington-returns to Orange County on Sunday for a performance at Buena ParkвЂ™s Sequoia Athletic Club. He currently records for GabrielвЂ™s Real World label. Championed by Peter Gabriel, Ali Khan and his Party (his group of singers and musicians, including several relatives) were a sensation in the вЂ80s at EnglandвЂ™s WOMAD Festival. Though he sings in the Urdu language in a millennium-old traditional style, Ali KhanвЂ™s voice has found an international audience. Indeed, the tradition of dervish dancing has the same Sufi Muslim roots as Ali KhanвЂ™s Qawwali music, and both stem from the Sufi mysticвЂ™s goal of becoming so enraptured in a performance that one experiences a direct contact with his God. But though he may be rooted to the spot physically, the Pakistani singerвЂ™s voice launches into incredible, propulsive flights of melismatic abandon as he strains to embody the content of his songs, and his hands and arms often gesticulate and fly with the emotion of his singing.ДЄnd while Ali Khan and his similarly seated band mates perform, they often find themselves amid a tumultuous sea of motion as adherents of the music become carried away and dance and spin like dervishes. But Nusrat was probably the first qawwal in the world to stand aside as a musician in his own right, doing everything from classical qawwali to Bollywood soundtracks and works of fusion with Western musicians.Unlike many popular singers who have wildly animated styles, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan performs seated, as implacably planted on the stage floor as a bean-bag chair. Qawwals are not so much musicians as part of an ancient institution which is strictly a family business, with musical and poetic knowledge handed down from father to son. It is interesting to note that the majority of NusratвЂ™s fans, although not from within these linguistic traditions, nevertheless admit to being spiritually moved by his songs. QawwaliвЂ™s main spiritual content lies in its classical melodies enhanced by mystical Persian, Hindi and Urdu/Punjabi verses of the great Sufi poets of the past. But percussion is only part of the story.

Qawwali, although categorised as вЂsemi-classical North Indian music,вЂ™ has a distinct sound of its own based on a chorus of male voices and entrancing rhythms marked by hand-clapping.

His death coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Partition of India and was mourned both in India and Pakistan. вЂњIf even just one out of a thousand listeners feels spiritually uplifted, then my job, as one who tries to reduce the distance between the Creator and the created, is done,вЂќ he said in an interview shortly before his untimely death in 1997. Nusrat himself remained adamant that the message of qawwali was the same, whether it was performed in the traditional context or adapted to suit more modern tastes. Nusrat embarked on several of these, from his work with producer Michael Brook ( Mustt Mustt), to contributions for film soundtracks, including Dead Man WalkingВ and Bandit Queen, as well as music for a Coca-Cola commercial. It was Nusrat, descended from a long line of distinguished qawwals (performers of qawwali) who had been in the business for over 600 years, who brought it to the concert halls of Europe and the USA with many Western musicians realising its potential for modern collaborations. The act of performing and listening to qawwali is a specific religious ritual of the Sufis and as such was traditionally only performed at the shrines of Sufi saints and past masters. He was, almost single-handedly, responsible for popularising qawwaliВ вЂ“ the music of Indian and Pakistani Sufis (Islamic mystics) вЂ“ which had been going strong since the late 1300s but was virtually unknown outside the Indian sub-continent. Everything about PakistanвЂ™s Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997) was larger than life, not least, his imposing physical stature and his stunning musicality.

Nusrat fateh ali khan best qawwali album