Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( (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). He was featured in Time magazine's 2006 list of "Asian Heroes".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.

Biography

Early life and career

Khan 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.

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

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), 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.

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.

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.

Death

Composition of Nusrat's qawwali party

#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.

Legacy and influence

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. Many other artists have also cited Nusrat as an influence, such as A.R. Rahman, Sheila Chandra, and Alim Qasimov.

Films

Documentaries

Concert films

See also

References

External links

Category:1948 births Category:1997 deaths Category:People from Faisalabad Category:Pakistani male singers Category:Pakistani Shi'a Muslims Category:Pakistani qawwali singers Category:Performers of Sufi music Category:Punjabi people Category:Sufi music Category:Qawwali Category:Real World artists Category:Nigar Award winners Category:Harmonium players

Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (1177–1274) (), a Persian (Tajik) Sufi saint, philosopher, poet, and qalandar. Born Syed Usman Shah Marwandi, The inner sanctum is about 100 yards square with the silver canopied grave in the middle. On one side of the marble floor is a row of about folding wooden stands on which are set copies of Quran for devotees to read. On the other side, beside a bundle of burning agarbattis (joss sticks), are rows of diyas (small oil lamps) lighted by devotees.

Urs

References

External links

Category:Sufi poets Category:Sufi mystics Category:Sindhi people Category:Pakistani poets Category:Pakistani Sufis Category:Sufism in Afghanistan Category:Pakistani people of Afghan descent Category:1177 births Category:1274 deaths

'Sanam Marvi' (}}) is a Pakistani singer who sings urdu and sindhi language songs. She became very popular from her performance in Coke Studio.

She is the daughter of Faqeer Ghulam Rasool, who himself was a sufi singer. Her father started training her at the age of seven and used to take her with him at his performances at various shrines. Sanam has eight siblings. Sanam trained under Ustad Fateh Ali Khan of Gwalior. She emphatically states that her aim is to popularise and publicise the rich Sufi heritage among Indian and Pakistani youth. Sanam is a mother of two children, a daughter Rabail and a boy Behbool. Many believe that Sanam has a very bright career ahead of her.

References

Category:Living people Category:Sindhi people Category:Pakistani female singers Category:Pakistani singers