Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( ,
October 13, 1948 – August 16, 1997), was a Punjabi musician from Pakistan
, primarily a
singer of Qawwali, the devotional
music of the Sufis (a mystical tradition within Islam). He featured in
Time magazine's 2006 list of 'Asian
Heroes'.
Biography
Early life and career
Nusrat
Fateh Ali Khan was born on October 13, 1948 in the city of Faisalabad
, Pakistan. He
was the fifth child and first son of Ustad
Fateh Ali Khan, a
musicologist, vocalist, instrumentalist, and
Qawwal. Khan's family, which included his
four older sisters and his younger brother,
Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan grew up in
central Lyallpur. In 1979, Khan married his first cousin, Naheed
(the daughter of Fateh Ali Khan's brother,
Salamat Ali Khan); they had one daughter,
Nida.
Khan began by learning to play
tabla alongside
his father before progressing to learn
Raag Vidya and
Bolbandish. 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, Ustad
Mubarak Ali Khan and Ustad 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 Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, Khan, 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.
Early in his career, Khan was signed up by Oriental Star Agencies
[OSA] of Birmingham UK 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
Khan 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)), and with
Pearl Jam lead singer
Eddie Vedder in 1995 on two songs for the
soundtrack to
Dead Man Walking. He also contributed
to the soundtrack of
Natural
Born Killers.
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.
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
appeared) and
Kachche
Dhaage. He also sang the title song of the film,
Dhadkan.
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.
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. .
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. .
His body was returned
to Faisalabad, Pakistan and his
funeral was attended by the public.
After his death, the song "Solemn Prayer", on which Nusrat provided
vocals, was used by Peter Gabriel on his album
Up and in the soundtrack to the
film
Blood
Diamond.
Composition of Nusrat's qawwali party
The composition of Nusrat's party changed over the twenty-six years
that he led the party. 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
The one significant member of the party who does not appear on this
list is Atta Fareed. For many years, he alternated with Rehmat Ali
on vocals and second harmonium. He is easily identifiable in videos
since he plays the harmonium left-handed.
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 recognition
TIME magazine's issue of November 6, 2006, "60 Years of Asian
Heroes", lists Nusrat as one of the top 12 Artists and Thinkers in
the last 60 years .
In 2007, London-based producer Gaudi released Dub Qawwali,
featuring dub reggae with Nusrat's vocals .
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
External links
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