Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Punjabi: نصرت فتح علی خان (Shahmukhi)) (October 13, 1948 – August 16, 1997) a world-renowned Pakistani musician, was primarily a singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis (a mystical tradition within Islam). Considered one of the greatest singers ever recorded, he possessed a six-octave vocal range and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours.[1][2] Extending the 600-year old Qawwali tradition of his family, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is widely credited with introducing Sufi music to international audiences.[3][4] He was popularly known as Shahenshah-e-Qawwali, meaning The King of Kings of Qawwali.[5]
Born in Faisalabad, Nusrat had his first public performance at age of 16, at his father's chelum. He officially became the head of the family qawwali party in 1971, and was signed by Oriental Star Agencies (OSA), Birmingham, U.K., in the early 1980s. In subsequent years, Khan released movie scores and albums for various labels in Pakistan, Europe, Japan and the U.S. He engaged in collaborations and experiments with Western artists, becoming a well-known world music artist in the process. He toured extensively, performing in over 40 countries.[6]
Without doubt the most important qawwal is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party -- "Party" is a generic term for a qawwali ensemble but is also used in Sikhism and to describe some classical music ensembles, for example, shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan & Party. Dubbed Shahen-Shah-e-Qawwali (the Brightest Star in Qawwali), he was born on October 13, 1948, in Lyallpur in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. He made his first recording in 1973 in Pakistan and a number of early EMI (Pakistan) albums jointly billed him with his uncle Mubarak Ali Khan. Since these mainly cassette albums were invariably undated and numerous, it is difficult to place them in any more accurate chronological sequence than catalog-number order. Between 1973 and 1993 his recorded output could only be described as prodigious, with more than 50 album releases to his name on numerous Pakistani, British, American, European and Japanese labels. Heavily over-recorded, blighted with a rash of poppy remix albums or albums with Westernized instrumentation or arrangements, his recorded work is a mire to suck in the uninitiated and their money. Converts, however, do not escape scot-free. Although some releases hint at their nature with coded titles such as Volume 4 Punjabi (Oriental Star CD SR013) from 1990 or Ghazals Urdu (Oriental Star CD SR055) from 1992, the chosen language and style is frequently a matter of conjecture or uncertainty. While the Western market is saturated with his work, the Indian market is supersaturated, and his recorded output is in danger of overwhelming any sense of taste.
Real World was the label largely responsible for Khan's breakthrough into a non-Indian audience. It was their marketing skills and the platform provided by the WOMAD organization which introduced him to Westerners. Mustt Mustt (Real World CD RW 15) released in 1990 was a deliberate attempt to target the white market with its non-traditional arrangements, yet it seems positively cherubic beside later abominations. "All these albums are experiments," he told me in 1993. "There are some people who do not understand at all but just like my voice. I add new lyrics and modern instruments to attract the audience. This has been very successful." Success, however, bred indifference to the virtues and values of the original music. Many find the remix albums, the Western and youth-market releases, a source of despair: buyer beware remains the watchword. When singing his traditional work he remains peerless. Many fans regret the dilution of his talent that has occurred with his "experiments." However, in 1994, reportedly tired of unauthorized releases, he took greater control of both his business affairs and his concert and recording activities. With his international renown at an all-time peak, Khan died on August 16, 1997; a seemingly endless procession of posthumous releases appeared in the years to follow. ~ Ken Hunt, Rovi
In 1971, after the death of Mubarak Ali Khan, Nusrat became the official leader of the family Qawwali party and the party became known as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party. Khan's first public performance as the leader of the Qawwali party was at a studio recording broadcast as part of an annual music festival organised by Radio Pakistan, known as Jashn-e-Baharan. Khan sang mainly in Urdu and Punjabi and occasionally in Persian, Brajbhasha and Hindi. His first major hit in Pakistan was the song Haq Ali Ali, which was performed in a traditional style and with traditional instrumentation. The song featured restrained use of Nusrat's sargam improvisations.
In 1979, Khan married his first cousin, Naheed (the daughter of Fateh Ali Khan's brother, Salamat Ali Khan); they had one daughter, Nida.[8]
Early in his career, Khan was signed up by Oriental Star Agencies in the U.K. to their Star Cassette Label. OSA sponsored regular concert tours by Nusrat to the U.K. from the early '80s onwards, and released much of this live material on cassette, CD, videotape and DVD.
Nusrat teamed with Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ in 1985, with Canadian musician Michael Brook on the albums Mustt Mustt (1990) and Night Song (1996),[10] and with Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder in 1995 on two songs for the soundtrack to Dead Man Walking. One of these songs ("The Long Road") was re-used on the soundtrack for Eat, Pray, Love in 2010. Nusrat also contributed to the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers. He composed the music for the 1994 film Bandit Queen in collaboration with Roger White[disambiguation needed ].
Peter Gabriel's Real World label later released five albums of Nusrat's traditional Qawwali, together with some of his experimental work which included the albums Mustt Mustt and Star Rise. Nusrat provided vocals for The Prayer Cycle, which was put together by Jonathan Elias, but died before the vocals could be completed. Alanis Morissette was brought in to sing with his unfinished vocals. Nusrat also collabrated with Michael Brook to create music for the song 'Sweet Pain' used in the movie Any Given Sunday. He also performed traditional Qawwali before international audiences at several WOMAD world music festivals and the single Dam Mast Qalandar was remixed by electronic trip hop group Massive Attack in 1998.
His album Intoxicated Spirit was nominated for a Grammy award in 1997 for best traditional folk album.
Khan contributed songs to, and performed in, several Pakistani films. Shortly before his death, he recorded a song each for two Bollywood films, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (in which he also sang the song onscreen) and Kachche Dhaage. He sang the title song of the film, Dhadkan. He also sang Saya bhi saath jab chhod jaye for Sunny Deol's movie, Dillagi. The song was released only in 1999, two years after Nusrat's death.
Khan contributed the song "Gurus of Peace" to the album Vande Mataram, composed by A.R. Rahman, and released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of India's independence. Rahman, who was a big fan of Khan could not do further songs with him. As a tribute, Rahman later released an album titled Gurus of Peace, which featured "Allah Hoo" by Nusrat. Rahman's 2007 song "Tere Bina" was also done as a tribute to Nusrat.[11]
After his death, the song "Solemn Prayer", on which Nusrat provided vocals, was used on the Peter Gabriel song "Signal to Noise" (on the album Up), and on the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese film Gangs of New York.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan holds the world record for the largest recorded output by a Qawwali artist—a total of 125 albums as of 2001.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, internationally recognized for his mastery of a form of Islamic devotional music known as qawwali (pronounced kah-wah-lee), first gained significant attention in the United States in 1989 when he performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival. Prior to that, the Sabri Brothers had been the United States’ significant import of traditional Pakistani music, appearing in the United States during the mid-1970s. Three years after Khan’s first U.S. appearance, the singer would spend a year as artist in residence at the University of Washington’s music department.
New York Times music critic Jon Pareles places qawwali in an ecstatic musical tradition alongside American gospel, Moroccan joujouka, and even techno music, which tends to create emotional highs through simple melodies and driving beats, gathering "intensity through repetition and improvisational flights." Qawwali is believed to have originated among the Chisti order of Sufis in the tenth century.
Khan’s large, almost Buddha-esque body often moves in rapid motion to his music’s emotional peaks; his hands jab outward, brushing, as if carving the images of divine spirit from the air. His rapt audience—at least those of Pakistani background, who comprise the greater portion of his listeners—follows with fevered shouts and dancing, afterwards gathering below the stage to shower their beloved singer with money and flowers. Khan seems to almost goad his listeners into musical intoxication, pleading in fierce cries, imitating the rhythmic insistence of the drums, and calling back and forth with other singers in his "party," the favored term for the other singers (qawwalis) and instrumentalists who sit in a group on the stage with the lead qawwal.
The World Music Institute, located in New York City, has been a chief promoter of Khan’s work in the West, along with many other important nonwestern folk and classical musicians. For example, in 1993 Khan opened and closed a five-hour "Masters of India and Pakistan" concert that featured music of his region, Hindustani, as well as the work of performers from southern Pakistan.
Khan was born in 1948 in the Punjab province of Pakistan, in the town of Lyallpur—during Pakistan’s 1979 decolonization, its name was changed to Faisalbad. As a young qawwal, Khan learned his art in the traditional manner, through his family. His father, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, as well as his uncles, were qawwalis, and they trained Khan in the family tradition of singing in a high register. Khan also received instruction on the tabla, a small hand drum.
Khan began performing at shrines and in villages where he would sometimes sing through the whole day or night in religious celebration. "When I had the stamina, I’d sing for 10 hours," he once recalled. But, by age 45, the singer found himself limited to sessions of three or four hours. These shrines, or dargahs, are generally the tombs—symbolic or otherwise—of saints where the faithful enter musically induced, trance-like states allowing communion with God. Traditionally, qawwalis sat opposite the saint’s tomb. In the intervening space would be the audience in a circle formation, and in its center a spiritual leader surrounded by prominent devotees. Such sites are the true home of qawwali, although the music has also been performed at important events such as weddings feasts.
Persian Poetry the Basis for Music
In his introduction to the program for Khan’s 1993 World Music Institute performance, Robert Browning wrote, "The qawwal will dwell on certain words … creating great depth in the apparently simple language of certain Sufi texts. He will often repeat a phrase or sentence indicating both the obvious and hidden content by emphasizing or ruminating upon particular words and syllables … [so that, for example] a spinning wheel becomes the wheel of life." Qawwali texts are most commonly medieval Persian Sufi poetry, and Khan, like other qawwalis, learns each poem by heart. Although the verses are available in books, it is the manner of performing each text that must be learned from another qawwal. Thus, the music is basically an oral tradition.
Browning stated that "rarely is a complete poem recited—rather the singer will join segments from different poems or add lines from another text." This free association from memorized poems is done to emphasize a certain meaning, or to try a new direction in the effort to move the audience to spiritual awakening. The qawwal must exhibit great sensitivity in noting when a listener is moved to divine ecstasy, and must repeat the same phrase over and over; according to Sufi belief, interruption would threaten the ecstatic with death.
Metaphoric Wine, Women, and Song
Often, qawwali poetry’s apparent subject is romantic love, or even wine intoxication—though liquor is shunned by Islam. These are symbolic subjects, however: romantic love serves as an allegory and facet of divine love, while intoxication refers to the joyous trance induced by qawwali. The oft mentioned "tavern," as in the famous Persian poem "In the Tavern of Ruin," refers to one’s spiritual master who houses God’s love.
The melodic sources for performing qawwali poems are usually set by tradition. The tunes are North Indian in nature, meaning the octave has seven degrees and the various scales come from light classical ragas. Ragas are a traditional form of Hindu music, calling for improvisation on a theme evoking religious belief, the improvisation generally following prescribed patterns and progressions. Modern qawwali represents a spectrum of influences and geographic territories.
Generally associated with the Sufi religion, qawwali also has Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim followers. Currently, Urdu is the music’s "first language," as Ken Hunt noted in his profile of Khan for Folk Roots. However, qawwalis also sing in Hindi, Sindhi, Punjabi, and classical Persian, not to mention local tongues. The literary sources of qawwali range too, though texts are chiefly medieval Persian Sufi poetry. The program for Khan’s 1993 tour included, for example, a thirteenth-century Persian poem by the famed Amir Khusrau.
Temptations of a Qawwal
In his article for Folk Roots, Hunt described the scowl that comes over Khan’s face when discussing the depiction of qawwali in films. For several years a debased form of qawwali has formed the soundtrack of many movies generated by a prolific Indian film industry. Khan understandably decries this long-standing commercialization of a sacred art form.
Yet, as an artist himself, Khan has embraced nontraditional elements since his 1989 U.S. visit. Western instruments and such big-name musicians as Jan Garbarek and Peter Gabriel have strongly influenced Khan’s output in recent years. This Western flavor is evident in the singer’s recording Mustt Mustt and numerous remixes, including those by Bally Sagoo in Magic Touch.
Khan defends such breaks with tradition as "experiments" and seems to feel that attracting an audience is important to make people aware of qawwali. The pressures on this revered singer to widen his audience echo those placed on performers of any type of traditional folk music. The artist is pulled in two directions: As a traditionalist, he is entrusted with preserving the music’s form, and yet as a musician, he feels the need to discover new forms of self-expression. Noting that many qawwalis have abandoned shrine performance for financial reasons, Khan has expressed that he cannot forego his spiritual and personal links to such sites. Each year, he returns to perform at two dargahs, one in Lahore and one in Pak Patan.
Khan has made numerous recordings over the years, with titles now numbering more than 100. While his works of the early 1990s disappoint some fans of the traditional sound who find in the modern output a weakening of musical and spiritual integrity, such early classical recordings as En Concerta Paris and Traditional Sufi Qawwalis Volumes 1 and 2 form a timeless buffer against loss of the past.
Selected discography
Devotional and Love Songs, Real World, 1988.
Traditional Sufi Qawwals—Live in London ’89, Navras, 1989.
Shahen-Shah, Real World, 1989.
Day, Night, Dawn, Dusk, Shanachie Records, 1991.
Mustt Mustt, Real World, 1991.
Shahbaaz, Real World, 1991.
Revelation—llham, Audiorec, 1993.
The Last Prophet, Real World/Caroline, 1994.
Greatest Hits of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sirocco/EMI.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party Live in New York, Rhythms of the East.
Magic Touch, Oriental Star.
Paris Concert—Live, Ocora.
Jan Garbarek & Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, ECM.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & His Qawwali Party—Vol. 1, JVC.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan—The Ecstatic Qawwal—Vol. 2, JVC.
This snapshot is non-representative in one respect: harmoniums were usually the only instruments. Only rarely were instruments like mandolin or guitar used.
Many honorary titles were bestowed upon Nusrat during his 25-year music career. He was given the title of Ustad after performing classical music at a function in Lahore on his father's death anniversary.[23]
Paul Williams picked a concert performance by Nusrat for inclusion in his 2000 book "The 20th Century's Greatest Hits: a 'top-40' list", in which he devotes a chapter each to what he considers the top 40 artistic achievements of the 20th century in any field (including art, movies, music, fiction, non-fiction, science-fiction).[29]
In 2004, a tribute band called (Brooklyn Qawwali Party) (formerly Brook's Qawwali Party) was formed in New York City by percussionist Brook Martinez to perform the music of Nusrat. The 13-piece group still performs mostly instrumental jazz versions of Nusrat's qawwalis, using the instruments conventionally associated with jazz rather than those associated with qawwali.[30]
Born in Faisalabad, Nusrat had his first public performance at age of 16, at his father's chelum. He officially became the head of the family qawwali party in 1971, and was signed by Oriental Star Agencies (OSA), Birmingham, U.K., in the early 1980s. In subsequent years, Khan released movie scores and albums for various labels in Pakistan, Europe, Japan and the U.S. He engaged in collaborations and experiments with Western artists, becoming a well-known world music artist in the process. He toured extensively, performing in over 40 countries.[6]
Without doubt the most important qawwal is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party -- "Party" is a generic term for a qawwali ensemble but is also used in Sikhism and to describe some classical music ensembles, for example, shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan & Party. Dubbed Shahen-Shah-e-Qawwali (the Brightest Star in Qawwali), he was born on October 13, 1948, in Lyallpur in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. He made his first recording in 1973 in Pakistan and a number of early EMI (Pakistan) albums jointly billed him with his uncle Mubarak Ali Khan. Since these mainly cassette albums were invariably undated and numerous, it is difficult to place them in any more accurate chronological sequence than catalog-number order. Between 1973 and 1993 his recorded output could only be described as prodigious, with more than 50 album releases to his name on numerous Pakistani, British, American, European and Japanese labels. Heavily over-recorded, blighted with a rash of poppy remix albums or albums with Westernized instrumentation or arrangements, his recorded work is a mire to suck in the uninitiated and their money. Converts, however, do not escape scot-free. Although some releases hint at their nature with coded titles such as Volume 4 Punjabi (Oriental Star CD SR013) from 1990 or Ghazals Urdu (Oriental Star CD SR055) from 1992, the chosen language and style is frequently a matter of conjecture or uncertainty. While the Western market is saturated with his work, the Indian market is supersaturated, and his recorded output is in danger of overwhelming any sense of taste.
Real World was the label largely responsible for Khan's breakthrough into a non-Indian audience. It was their marketing skills and the platform provided by the WOMAD organization which introduced him to Westerners. Mustt Mustt (Real World CD RW 15) released in 1990 was a deliberate attempt to target the white market with its non-traditional arrangements, yet it seems positively cherubic beside later abominations. "All these albums are experiments," he told me in 1993. "There are some people who do not understand at all but just like my voice. I add new lyrics and modern instruments to attract the audience. This has been very successful." Success, however, bred indifference to the virtues and values of the original music. Many find the remix albums, the Western and youth-market releases, a source of despair: buyer beware remains the watchword. When singing his traditional work he remains peerless. Many fans regret the dilution of his talent that has occurred with his "experiments." However, in 1994, reportedly tired of unauthorized releases, he took greater control of both his business affairs and his concert and recording activities. With his international renown at an all-time peak, Khan died on August 16, 1997; a seemingly endless procession of posthumous releases appeared in the years to follow. ~ Ken Hunt, Rovi
Contents
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Biography
Early life and career
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was born on October 13, 1948 in the city of Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), Pakistan. He was the fifth child and first son of Fateh Ali Khan, a musicologist, vocalist, instrumentalist, and Qawwal. Khan's family, which included four older sisters and a younger brother, Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan, grew up in central Lyallpur. Initially, his father did not want Nusrat to follow the family's vocation. He had his heart set on Nusrat choosing a much more respectable career path and becoming a doctor, because he felt Qawwali artists had low social status. However, Nusrat showed such an aptitude for, and interest in, Qawwali that his father finally relented.[7] Nusrat began by learning to play tabla alongside his father before progressing to learn Raag Vidya and Bol Bandish. He then went on to learn to sing within the classical framework of khayal. Khan's training with his father was cut short when his father died in 1964, leaving Khan's paternal uncles, Mubarak Ali Khan and Salamat Ali Khan, to complete his training. His first performance was at a traditional graveside ceremony for his father, known as chehlum, which took place forty days after his father's death.In 1971, after the death of Mubarak Ali Khan, Nusrat became the official leader of the family Qawwali party and the party became known as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party. Khan's first public performance as the leader of the Qawwali party was at a studio recording broadcast as part of an annual music festival organised by Radio Pakistan, known as Jashn-e-Baharan. Khan sang mainly in Urdu and Punjabi and occasionally in Persian, Brajbhasha and Hindi. His first major hit in Pakistan was the song Haq Ali Ali, which was performed in a traditional style and with traditional instrumentation. The song featured restrained use of Nusrat's sargam improvisations.
In 1979, Khan married his first cousin, Naheed (the daughter of Fateh Ali Khan's brother, Salamat Ali Khan); they had one daughter, Nida.[8]
Early in his career, Khan was signed up by Oriental Star Agencies in the U.K. to their Star Cassette Label. OSA sponsored regular concert tours by Nusrat to the U.K. from the early '80s onwards, and released much of this live material on cassette, CD, videotape and DVD.
Later career
In the 1992-93 academic year, Nusrat was a Visiting Artist in the Ethnomusicology department at the University of Washington, Seattle.[9]Nusrat teamed with Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ in 1985, with Canadian musician Michael Brook on the albums Mustt Mustt (1990) and Night Song (1996),[10] and with Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder in 1995 on two songs for the soundtrack to Dead Man Walking. One of these songs ("The Long Road") was re-used on the soundtrack for Eat, Pray, Love in 2010. Nusrat also contributed to the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers. He composed the music for the 1994 film Bandit Queen in collaboration with Roger White[disambiguation needed ].
Peter Gabriel's Real World label later released five albums of Nusrat's traditional Qawwali, together with some of his experimental work which included the albums Mustt Mustt and Star Rise. Nusrat provided vocals for The Prayer Cycle, which was put together by Jonathan Elias, but died before the vocals could be completed. Alanis Morissette was brought in to sing with his unfinished vocals. Nusrat also collabrated with Michael Brook to create music for the song 'Sweet Pain' used in the movie Any Given Sunday. He also performed traditional Qawwali before international audiences at several WOMAD world music festivals and the single Dam Mast Qalandar was remixed by electronic trip hop group Massive Attack in 1998.
His album Intoxicated Spirit was nominated for a Grammy award in 1997 for best traditional folk album.
Khan contributed songs to, and performed in, several Pakistani films. Shortly before his death, he recorded a song each for two Bollywood films, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (in which he also sang the song onscreen) and Kachche Dhaage. He sang the title song of the film, Dhadkan. He also sang Saya bhi saath jab chhod jaye for Sunny Deol's movie, Dillagi. The song was released only in 1999, two years after Nusrat's death.
Khan contributed the song "Gurus of Peace" to the album Vande Mataram, composed by A.R. Rahman, and released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of India's independence. Rahman, who was a big fan of Khan could not do further songs with him. As a tribute, Rahman later released an album titled Gurus of Peace, which featured "Allah Hoo" by Nusrat. Rahman's 2007 song "Tere Bina" was also done as a tribute to Nusrat.[11]
After his death, the song "Solemn Prayer", on which Nusrat provided vocals, was used on the Peter Gabriel song "Signal to Noise" (on the album Up), and on the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese film Gangs of New York.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan holds the world record for the largest recorded output by a Qawwali artist—a total of 125 albums as of 2001.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, internationally recognized for his mastery of a form of Islamic devotional music known as qawwali (pronounced kah-wah-lee), first gained significant attention in the United States in 1989 when he performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival. Prior to that, the Sabri Brothers had been the United States’ significant import of traditional Pakistani music, appearing in the United States during the mid-1970s. Three years after Khan’s first U.S. appearance, the singer would spend a year as artist in residence at the University of Washington’s music department.
New York Times music critic Jon Pareles places qawwali in an ecstatic musical tradition alongside American gospel, Moroccan joujouka, and even techno music, which tends to create emotional highs through simple melodies and driving beats, gathering "intensity through repetition and improvisational flights." Qawwali is believed to have originated among the Chisti order of Sufis in the tenth century.
Khan’s large, almost Buddha-esque body often moves in rapid motion to his music’s emotional peaks; his hands jab outward, brushing, as if carving the images of divine spirit from the air. His rapt audience—at least those of Pakistani background, who comprise the greater portion of his listeners—follows with fevered shouts and dancing, afterwards gathering below the stage to shower their beloved singer with money and flowers. Khan seems to almost goad his listeners into musical intoxication, pleading in fierce cries, imitating the rhythmic insistence of the drums, and calling back and forth with other singers in his "party," the favored term for the other singers (qawwalis) and instrumentalists who sit in a group on the stage with the lead qawwal.
The World Music Institute, located in New York City, has been a chief promoter of Khan’s work in the West, along with many other important nonwestern folk and classical musicians. For example, in 1993 Khan opened and closed a five-hour "Masters of India and Pakistan" concert that featured music of his region, Hindustani, as well as the work of performers from southern Pakistan.
Khan was born in 1948 in the Punjab province of Pakistan, in the town of Lyallpur—during Pakistan’s 1979 decolonization, its name was changed to Faisalbad. As a young qawwal, Khan learned his art in the traditional manner, through his family. His father, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, as well as his uncles, were qawwalis, and they trained Khan in the family tradition of singing in a high register. Khan also received instruction on the tabla, a small hand drum.
Khan began performing at shrines and in villages where he would sometimes sing through the whole day or night in religious celebration. "When I had the stamina, I’d sing for 10 hours," he once recalled. But, by age 45, the singer found himself limited to sessions of three or four hours. These shrines, or dargahs, are generally the tombs—symbolic or otherwise—of saints where the faithful enter musically induced, trance-like states allowing communion with God. Traditionally, qawwalis sat opposite the saint’s tomb. In the intervening space would be the audience in a circle formation, and in its center a spiritual leader surrounded by prominent devotees. Such sites are the true home of qawwali, although the music has also been performed at important events such as weddings feasts.
Persian Poetry the Basis for Music
In his introduction to the program for Khan’s 1993 World Music Institute performance, Robert Browning wrote, "The qawwal will dwell on certain words … creating great depth in the apparently simple language of certain Sufi texts. He will often repeat a phrase or sentence indicating both the obvious and hidden content by emphasizing or ruminating upon particular words and syllables … [so that, for example] a spinning wheel becomes the wheel of life." Qawwali texts are most commonly medieval Persian Sufi poetry, and Khan, like other qawwalis, learns each poem by heart. Although the verses are available in books, it is the manner of performing each text that must be learned from another qawwal. Thus, the music is basically an oral tradition.
Browning stated that "rarely is a complete poem recited—rather the singer will join segments from different poems or add lines from another text." This free association from memorized poems is done to emphasize a certain meaning, or to try a new direction in the effort to move the audience to spiritual awakening. The qawwal must exhibit great sensitivity in noting when a listener is moved to divine ecstasy, and must repeat the same phrase over and over; according to Sufi belief, interruption would threaten the ecstatic with death.
Metaphoric Wine, Women, and Song
Often, qawwali poetry’s apparent subject is romantic love, or even wine intoxication—though liquor is shunned by Islam. These are symbolic subjects, however: romantic love serves as an allegory and facet of divine love, while intoxication refers to the joyous trance induced by qawwali. The oft mentioned "tavern," as in the famous Persian poem "In the Tavern of Ruin," refers to one’s spiritual master who houses God’s love.
The melodic sources for performing qawwali poems are usually set by tradition. The tunes are North Indian in nature, meaning the octave has seven degrees and the various scales come from light classical ragas. Ragas are a traditional form of Hindu music, calling for improvisation on a theme evoking religious belief, the improvisation generally following prescribed patterns and progressions. Modern qawwali represents a spectrum of influences and geographic territories.
Generally associated with the Sufi religion, qawwali also has Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim followers. Currently, Urdu is the music’s "first language," as Ken Hunt noted in his profile of Khan for Folk Roots. However, qawwalis also sing in Hindi, Sindhi, Punjabi, and classical Persian, not to mention local tongues. The literary sources of qawwali range too, though texts are chiefly medieval Persian Sufi poetry. The program for Khan’s 1993 tour included, for example, a thirteenth-century Persian poem by the famed Amir Khusrau.
Temptations of a Qawwal
In his article for Folk Roots, Hunt described the scowl that comes over Khan’s face when discussing the depiction of qawwali in films. For several years a debased form of qawwali has formed the soundtrack of many movies generated by a prolific Indian film industry. Khan understandably decries this long-standing commercialization of a sacred art form.
Yet, as an artist himself, Khan has embraced nontraditional elements since his 1989 U.S. visit. Western instruments and such big-name musicians as Jan Garbarek and Peter Gabriel have strongly influenced Khan’s output in recent years. This Western flavor is evident in the singer’s recording Mustt Mustt and numerous remixes, including those by Bally Sagoo in Magic Touch.
Khan defends such breaks with tradition as "experiments" and seems to feel that attracting an audience is important to make people aware of qawwali. The pressures on this revered singer to widen his audience echo those placed on performers of any type of traditional folk music. The artist is pulled in two directions: As a traditionalist, he is entrusted with preserving the music’s form, and yet as a musician, he feels the need to discover new forms of self-expression. Noting that many qawwalis have abandoned shrine performance for financial reasons, Khan has expressed that he cannot forego his spiritual and personal links to such sites. Each year, he returns to perform at two dargahs, one in Lahore and one in Pak Patan.
Khan has made numerous recordings over the years, with titles now numbering more than 100. While his works of the early 1990s disappoint some fans of the traditional sound who find in the modern output a weakening of musical and spiritual integrity, such early classical recordings as En Concerta Paris and Traditional Sufi Qawwalis Volumes 1 and 2 form a timeless buffer against loss of the past.
Selected discography
Devotional and Love Songs, Real World, 1988.
Traditional Sufi Qawwals—Live in London ’89, Navras, 1989.
Shahen-Shah, Real World, 1989.
Day, Night, Dawn, Dusk, Shanachie Records, 1991.
Mustt Mustt, Real World, 1991.
Shahbaaz, Real World, 1991.
Revelation—llham, Audiorec, 1993.
The Last Prophet, Real World/Caroline, 1994.
Greatest Hits of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sirocco/EMI.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party Live in New York, Rhythms of the East.
Magic Touch, Oriental Star.
Paris Concert—Live, Ocora.
Jan Garbarek & Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, ECM.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & His Qawwali Party—Vol. 1, JVC.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan—The Ecstatic Qawwal—Vol. 2, JVC.
Death
Khan was taken ill with kidney and liver failure on August 11, 1997 in London, England while on the way to Los Angeles in order to receive a kidney transplant. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest at Cromwell Hospital, London, on Saturday, August 16, 1997, aged 48.[12] His body was returned to Faisalabad, Pakistan and his funeral was attended by the public.Composition of Nusrat's qawwali party
The composition of Nusrat's ensemble — called a party (or Humnawa in Urdu) — changed over its 26 years. Listed below is a snapshot of the party, circa 1983:- Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan: Nusrat's first cousin, vocals
- Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan: Nusrat's brother, vocals and lead harmonium
- Rehmat Ali: vocals and second harmonium
- Maqsood Hussain: vocals
- Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Nusrat's nephew & pupil, vocals
- Dildar Hussain: percussion
- Majawar Abbas: mandolin and guitar/chorus, handclapping
- Mohammed Iqbal Naqvi: secretary of the party, chorus, handclapping
- Asad Ali: chorus, handclapping. Nusrat's cousin
- Ghulam Farid: chorus, handclapping
- Kaukab Ali: chorus, handclapping
This snapshot is non-representative in one respect: harmoniums were usually the only instruments. Only rarely were instruments like mandolin or guitar used.
Awards and Titles
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is widely considered to be the most important qawwal in history.[13][14] In 1987, Khan received the President of Pakistan’s Award for Pride of Performance for his contribution to Pakistani music.[15][9] In 1995 he received the UNESCO Music Prize.[16][17] In 1996 he was awarded Grand Prix des Amériques at Montreal World Film Festival for exceptional contribution to the art of cinema.[18] In 2005, Nusrat was awarded the "Legends" award at the UK Asian Music Awards.[19] Time magazine's issue of November 6, 2006, "60 Years of Asian Heroes", lists him as one of the top 12 Artists and Thinkers in the last 60 years.[20] He also appeared on NPR's 50 Great Voices list in 2010.[21] In August 2010 he was included in CNN's list of the twenty most iconic musicians from the past fifty years.[22]Many honorary titles were bestowed upon Nusrat during his 25-year music career. He was given the title of Ustad after performing classical music at a function in Lahore on his father's death anniversary.[23]
Tributes, legacy and influence
Alexandra A. Seno of Asiaweek wrote:[24]Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's voice was otherworldly. For 25 years, his mystical songs transfixed millions. It was not long enough .... He performed qawali, which means wise or philosophical utterance, as nobody else of his generation did. His vocal range, talent for improvisation and sheer intensity were unsurpassed.Jeff Buckley cited Nusrat as a major influence, saying of him "He's my Elvis", and performing the first few minutes of Nusrat's hit "Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai" (including vocals) at live concerts.[25] Many other artists have also cited Nusrat as an influence, such as A.R. Rahman,[26] Sheila Chandra,[27] and Alim Qasimov.[28]
Paul Williams picked a concert performance by Nusrat for inclusion in his 2000 book "The 20th Century's Greatest Hits: a 'top-40' list", in which he devotes a chapter each to what he considers the top 40 artistic achievements of the 20th century in any field (including art, movies, music, fiction, non-fiction, science-fiction).[29]
In 2004, a tribute band called (Brooklyn Qawwali Party) (formerly Brook's Qawwali Party) was formed in New York City by percussionist Brook Martinez to perform the music of Nusrat. The 13-piece group still performs mostly instrumental jazz versions of Nusrat's qawwalis, using the instruments conventionally associated with jazz rather than those associated with qawwali.[30]
Films
Documentaries
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: le dernier prophète (1996). Directed by Jérôme de Missolz.
- Nusrat has Left the Building... But When? (1997). Directed by Farjad Nabi. (This 20-minute docudrama focuses on Nusrat's early career.)
- A Voice from Heaven (1999). Directed by Giuseppe Asaro. New York, NY: Winstar TV & Video. (This 75-minute documentary, available on VHS and DVD, provides an excellent introduction to Nusrat's life and work.)
- Samandar Main Samandar (2007). A documentary aired on Geo TV detailing Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's career.
- The King of Qawalli (2009). A short film aired on Dawn News about Nusrat's life and career.
Concert films
- The JVC Video Anthology of World Music and Dance (1990). Video 14 (of 30) (South Asia IV). Produced by Ichikawa Katsumori; directed by Nakagawa Kunikiko and Ichihashi Yuji; in collaboration with the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka. [Tokyo]: JVC, Victor Company of Japan; Cambridge, Massachusetts: distributed by Rounder Records. Features a studio performance by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Party (two Urdu-language songs: a Hamd, and a Manqabat for Khwaja Mu`inuddin Chishti. Filmed in Tokyo, Japan, September 20, 1987, for Asian Traditional Performing Arts).
- Nusrat! Live at Meany (1998). Produced by the University of Washington. (87-minute recording of a January 23, 1993 concert at Meany Hall, University of Washington in Seattle, during Nusrat's residency at the Ethnomusicology Program there.)
- Live in Concert in the U.K. (DVD, vols. 1-17) [OSA]; recorded between 1983 and 1993; first thirteen listed below:
- Live in Concert in UK (DVD vol. 1)
- Live in Concert (DVD vol. 2)
- Live in Concert (DVD vol. 3)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 4)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 5)
- Live in Concert (DVD vol. 6)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 7)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 8)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 9)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 10)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 11)
- Digbeth Birmingham 12 November 1983 (DVD vol. 12)
- Digbeth 30 October 1983 (DVD vol. 13)
- Akhiyan Udeek Diyan (DVD) [Nupur Audio]
- Je Tun Rab Nu Manauna (DVD) [Nupur Audio]
- Yaadan Vicchre Sajan Diyan Aayiyan (DVD) [Nupur Audio]
- Rang-e-Nusrat (DVD, vols. 1-11) [Music Today]; recorded between 1983 and 1993 (same material as the OSA DVDs)
- VHS videotapes, vols. 1-21 [OSA]; recorded between 1983 and 1993 (same material as the OSA DVDs)
- Luxor Cinema Birmingham (VHS vol. 1, 1979)
- Digbeth Birmingham (VHS vol. 2, 1983)
- St. Francis Hall Birmingham (VHS vol. 3, 1983)
- Royal Oak Birmingham (VHS vol. 4, 1983)
- Private Mehfil (Wallace Lawley Centre, Lozells Birmingham, November 1983) (VHS vol. 5)
- Private Mehfil (VHS vol. 6, 1983)
- Natraj Cinema Leicester (VHS vol. 7, 1983)
- Live In Southall (VHS vol. 8)
- Live In Bradford (VHS vol. 9, 1983)
- Live In Birmingham (VHS vol. 10, 1985)
- Allah Ditta Hall (VHS vol. 11, 1985)
- Harrow Leisure Centre (VHS vol. 12)
- University Of Aston (VHS vol. 13, 1988)
- Aston University (VHS vol. 14, 1988)
- WOMAD Festival Bracknell (VHS vol. 15, 1988)
- Live In Paris (VHS vol. 16, 1988)
- Poplar Civic Centre London (VHS vol. 17)
- Imperial Hotel Birmingham (VHS vol. 18, 1985)
- Slough Gurdawara (SHABADS) (VHS vol. 19)
- Imran Khan Cancer Appeal (VHS vol. 20)
- Town Hall Birmingham (VHS vol. 21, 1993)
See also
References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002163/bio
- ^ "The Legend Lives". Punemirror.in. 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ "Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan". Worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com. 2002-10-17. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ "World Music Legends Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan". Globalrhythm.net. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ Hommage à Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (liner notes by Pierre-Alain Baud), 1999, Network, Germany.
- ^ Amit Baruah; R. Padmanabhan (6 September 1997). "The stilled voice". Frontline. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
- ^ "Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: A tribute, Hindustan Times".
- ^ Ahmed Aqeel Ruby, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: A Living Legend, translated by Sajjad Haider Malik, Lahore: Words of Wisdom, (1992)
- ^ a b "Official biography, University of Washington". Music.washington.edu. 1997-08-16. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ "Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook: Mustt Mustt & Night Song". Allaboutjazz.com. 2008-01-05. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ "Rahman on how the music of Guru was born". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
- ^ Rose, Cynthia (1997-08-19). "Nusrat's Passing Leaves Void In The Music World". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ Ken Hunt. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Biography. Allmusic.
- ^ Virginia Gorlinski. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ "Utterance | Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali". Red-lines.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ "International Music Council - Prize laureates 1975 - 2004". Imc-cim.org. 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ "Previous winners of the UNESCO Music Prize". The Times (London). September 18, 2008.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002163/awards
- ^ "Artists unite to celebrate British Asian Music". Retrieved 24 August 2010.
- ^ Baker, Aryn (2006-11-13). "Asian Heroes: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan". Time. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ Danna, Mychael. "Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: The Voice Of Pakistan". NPR. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ "Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Nominated One Of The 20 Most Iconic Musicians From The Past 50 Years". Real World Records. 2010-08-10. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ Lok Virsa - Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Qawal & Party, Vol. 1, Moviebox Birmingham Ltd (2007).
- ^ Asiaweek: UNFORGETTABLE. CNN.
- ^ Buckley, Jeff. Live at Sin-é (Legacy Edition). Sony Music (2003).
- ^ A.R. Rahman: Allmusic
- ^ Sheila Chandra: Allmusic
- ^ Alim Qasimov: Allmusic
- ^ "The 20th Century's Greatest Hits: A Top 40 List of art". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ "bqpmusic.com". Brooklynqawwaliparty.com. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
Additional reading
- Baud, Pierre-Alain. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Messenger of Qawwali. Editions Demi-Lune, 2008. (A biography of Nusrat.)
External links
- Article with brief 1993 interview (edwebproject.org)
- KING OF QAWALI Documentary on You Tube's Dawn news Channel
- NPR Audio Report: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: The Voice Of Pakistan
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan at the Internet Movie Database