He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1996 for his production work and as a co-artist on Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's album ''Night Song''. Another notable collaboration was ''Sleeps with the Fishes'' with Clan Of Xymox member Pieter Nooten (4AD, 1987).

He toured as a member of the Sylvian and Fripp tour group, with the final concert at the Royal Albert Hall in December 1994 documented on the album ''Damage: Live''. He also opened the concerts with a solo set, featuring the Infinite Guitar with effects and sequencer backing. In 1998, he produced the album "Volcán: Tributo a José José", a tribute album to singer Jose Jose. In 2006, the solo album ''RockPaperScissors'' was released, with an ambient remix version following in 2007. Brook toured small venues in Canada and the United States in late January/early February, 2007.

Selected discography[link]

Studio & live albums[link]

Soundtracks[link]

Soundtrack albums[link]

As sideman[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Toronto Category:Canadian guitarists Category:Canadian record producers Category:Canadian inventors Category:Real World artists Category:Canadian experimental musicians Category:All Saints Records artists Category:E.G. Records artists

Biography[link]

She became a member of John Mellencamp's band during the recording of his 1987 album ''The Lonesome Jubilee'', and continued to work and tour with him for the following seven years. During this time, she also toured and recorded with bands such as Simple Minds and the Indigo Girls, which prompted her to pursue her own music.

Germano issued her first solo album, the lo-fi ''On the Way Down From the Moon Palace'', in 1991 on her own label, Major Bill Records. Without major distribution and promotion, sales were low, but the album helped bring Germano to the attention of Capitol Records, with whom she signed in 1992. Her major-label debut, ''Happiness'', was released in July 1993, but just prior to its release, a personnel shake-up had occurred at Capitol, which resulted in the departure of most of her benefactors at the label. Once it became clear to her that the album was not going to receive the level of promotion that she had expected, Germano lobbied successfully to have the rights to the album returned to her, and later that year, she signed with the influential British independent label 4AD Records, who, at that time, had a manufacturing and distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records in the US.

4AD founder/president Ivo Watts-Russell was a big fan of Germano's work, and took an unusually active role in her first releases for the label, remixing some of the tracks from ''Happiness'' with John Fryer, who had produced and/or engineered several other of the label's acts and had been involved in Watts-Russell's This Mortal Coil project. In early 1994, 4AD issued a limited-edition EP, ''Inconsiderate Bitch'', which contained five of the remixed tracks; and in April of that year, ''Happiness'' was reissued in a radically different form. The new version had very different artwork, and the songs, some of which were remixed, had been completely resequenced (two tracks, including her cover of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", were omitted, and replaced by two others that had been recorded around the same time, including "Destroy the Flower"). Her third album, ''Geek the Girl'', was also released later in 1994. The album earned Germano the most praise she'd yet received from the press, becoming a critical favorite and a noted album from the 1990s. Much attention was given to the track "...A Psychopath," which contains audio taken from an actual 911 emergency phone call placed by a woman who was being terrorized by an intruder in her home. In 1995, Germano contributed the song "The Mirror Is Gone" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Bothered produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Her next album, ''Excerpts From a Love Circus'', arrived in 1996, and received a fair amount of acclaim in publications ranging from music related magazines including ''Spin'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Earlier that same year, Watts-Russell approached all of 4AD's artists with the idea that each act would find another artist or band to collaborate with on three songs, and the resulting recordings would be released by the label as a monthly series of EPs. Germano chose to work with the Tucson-based rock band Giant Sand, but after their tracks had been recorded, 4AD decided that the series would be unfeasible, and scrapped the idea. Germano and the members of Giant Sand liked the results and enjoyed collaborating, and despite the labels' lack of interest in the recordings, recorded a studio album of new material together in less than a week. The managers for Germano and Giant Sand worked together and struck a deal with Thirsty Ear Recordings to release the album as a one-off project under the name OP8, and the album, ''Slush'', was released in February 1997. In April 1997, 4AD began servicing "I Love a Snot" (remixed by Tchad Blake) to radio and retail in America, but sales of the album remained static at best. Another Germano collaboration of sorts was released later that year, when another ''Excerpts From a Love Circus'' track, "Lovesick", was remixed by drum & bass producer The Underdog (aka Trevor Jackson, later of Playgroup), and released as a single on his Output Recordings label.

Sales began to sag noticeably with the release of ''Slide'' (produced by Tchad Blake) in July 1998. 4AD's distribution deal with Warner Bros. had come to an end, returning the label to its independent status; for Germano, that meant that ''Slide'' received less promotion, since her label no longer had Warner Bros.' resources to draw upon. That summer, just before the album's release, she was invited to join The Smashing Pumpkins (whose fourth album, ''Adore'', was released just weeks before ''Slide'') on tour as backing vocalist. Initially, she turned them down, but Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan convinced her that her role would be somewhat collaborative in nature, and she agreed to the tour. She joined the band in Chicago for four weeks of rehearsals in preparation for a four-month tour, but then, the night before the tour was to begin, she was dismissed by Corgan (via their tour manager) with no explanation, and the Pumpkins embarked on the tour without her. That fall, intent on resuming the promotion of ''Slide'', she went out on tour, first opening up for Eels, and then later headlining smaller clubs; but while on tour, she was notified by 4AD that they were dropping her from the roster. By the end of 1998, she announced that she was done with the music business, and dispensed with her management.

Germano moved to Hollywood, and began working at an independent bookstore. Songwriting, however, remained an integral part of her life, and she kept connected musically by collaborating with other artists, such as Yann Tiersen, David Bowie, Neil Finn, and Joey Waronker, on various projects. She returned to her solo career in 2002 with a flurry of releases. Independently, she released two compilations of songs from her back catalog: ''Concentrated'' is a selection of "greatest hits" with a few oddities (such as the Underdog remix of "Lovesick"); ''Rare, Unusual or Just Bad Songs'', however, is composed entirely of rarities (like "Breathe Acrost Texas", which was omitted from the reissue of ''Happiness'') and tracks that had never been available before, and each copy came with an insert painted by Germano herself. Later that year, she began gathering songs she had been writing and recording (mostly by herself at home) over the previous two years, and sent CDs of these tracks to a few labels and various friends in the music industry; the first to respond was her longtime acquaintance, producer/label executive Tony Berg. After the relative success of the ARTISTdirect family of music-related websites, co-founder and then-CEO Marc Geiger decided to start an actual record label, leading to the creation of the Ineffable imprint with Berg in 2002, with Germano as the label's first signing. Her sixth album, ''Lullaby for Liquid Pig'', released in April 2003, features performances by guitarist Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths, currently of Modest Mouse), Neil Finn, and Wendy Melvoin. As before, the album met with critical acclaim, but the label itself was not successful enough for its owners, who shut it down shortly thereafter.

In 2006, Germano was invited by former Swans leader Michael Gira to join the roster of his label, Young God Records. Young God released her sixth solo album, ''In the Maybe World'', in July of that year, and then reissued ''Lullaby for Liquid Pig'' in June 2007 with a bonus disc of unreleased live recordings and demos.

Discography[link]

Solo releases[link]

Germano released many singles in the 1990s, most all have music videos as well.

1993 - You Make Me Want To Wear Dresses

1994 - Puppet (Radio Promo Only)

1995 - Cry Wolf

1996 - Small Heads

1997 - I Love A Snot

1997 - Lovesick

1997 - Sand (With OP8)

Guest appearances[link]

Covered[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Category:4AD artists Category:Dream pop Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:American rock violinists Category:Female rock singers Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Musicians from Indiana Category:Eels (band) members Category:People from St. Joseph County, Indiana Category:American folk rock musicians

Born in Faisalabad, Pakistan, Khan 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.

Biography[link]

Early life and career [link]

In 1971, after the death of 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, Braj Bhasha 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 Khan'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.

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 Khan to the U.K. from the early '80s onwards, and released much of this live material on cassette, CD, videotape and DVD.

Later career[link]

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''. One of these songs ("The Long Road") was re-used on the soundtrack for ''Eat Pray Love'' in 2010. Khan also contributed to the soundtrack of ''Natural Born Killers''. He composed the music for the 1994 film ''Bandit Queen'' in collaboration with Roger White.

Peter Gabriel's Real World label later released five albums of Khan's traditional Qawwali, together with some of his experimental work which included the albums ''Mustt Mustt'' and ''Star Rise''. Khan 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. Khan 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 in 1999, two years after Khan'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 Khan. Rahman's 2007 song "Tere Bina" was also done as a tribute to Khan.

After his death, the song "Solemn Prayer", on which Khan 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'', Khan 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[link]

Composition of Nusrat's qawwali party[link]

#Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan: Khan's first cousin, vocals #Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan: Khan's brother, vocals and lead harmonium #Rehmat Ali: vocals and second harmonium #Maqsood Hussain: vocals #Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Khan's nephew and 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. Khan'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 titles[link]

Many honorary titles were bestowed upon Khan 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.

Tributes, legacy and influence[link]

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 Khan as a major influence, saying of him "He's my Elvis", and performing the first few minutes of Khan's hit "Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai" (including vocals) at live concerts. Many other artists have also cited Khan as an influence, such as A. R. Rahman, Sheila Chandra, and Alim Qasimov.

Paul Williams picked a concert performance by Khan 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).

In 2008, Khan was listed in 14th position in UGO's list of the best singers of all time.

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 Khan. The 13-piece group still performs mostly instrumental jazz versions of Khan's qawwalis, using the instruments conventionally associated with jazz rather than those associated with qawwali.

Films[link]

Documentaries[link]

Concert films[link]

See also[link]

References[link]

Additional reading[link]

External links[link]

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

Though the band is still active and continues to tour and release records, of the original songwriters (Nooten, Moorings and Wolbert), only Moorings remains in the band today. After the departure of Nooten and Wolbert in the early 1990s, their music turned increasingly Goth (they have since been referred to as the "founding fathers of goth.")

History[link]

1981–1991[link]

In 1987, now abbreviated as Xymox, they released their second and last album on 4AD, ''Medusa'', before signing with PolyGram. Simultaneously, Pieter Nooten recorded and released his album ''Sleeps With The Fishes'' (4AD, 1987), in collaboration with Michael Brook.

The band's third album, ''Twist of Shadows'', was released in 1989. This album, and its successor ''Phoenix'', were released by Wing Records, a subsidiary of Polydor Records/PolyGram. In the United States, these two albums created a cult following for the band. The first two singles taken from the Twist of Shadows album, ''Blind Hearts'' and ''Obsession'' proved big college and club hits in the United States with ''Obsession'' charting on ''Billboard'''s Alternative Songs chart and both tracks hitting the Billboard Club Play Chart. It was the album’s third single, ''Imagination'' (with Anka Wolbert on lead vocals), that brought the band the most mainstream attention, charting at #85 on Billboard Hot 100, generating Top 40 radio airplay and MTV rotation of the ''Imagination (Edit)'' single. ''Twist of Shadows'' proved their most commercially successful album, selling more than 300,000 copies worldwide.

By this time the band had moved to England, and released their fourth album, ''Phoenix'', on PolyGram in 1991; after this album, Anka Wolbert and Pieter Nooten left the band due to disagreements about the band's musical direction.

1991 – present[link]

In 1997 the band's name was reverted to Clan of Xymox; Moorings recruited new live members, besides Mojca, and started touring. The band signed with the independent US label Tess Records and released ''Hidden Faces'', produced by David M. Allen. In 1998 Clan of Xymox got signed by Metropolis Records in the USA, at a time of increasing US interest in the band, and released ''Creatures''. That same year, 4AD re-released ''Clan of Xymox'' and ''Medusa'' in the USA, and a US tour was planned for April and May 1999. The band at that time consisted of Moorings, Mojca (bass), Rob Vonk (guitar), Sharon Soffner (keyboards), and Rui Ramos (drums).

In October 2000 the band, without Vonk and Soffner, and with the addition of Nina Simic (keyboards), released ''Live'', a double CD with nineteen tracks and two videos. In 2001, they released ''Notes from the Underground''. In September 2004, ''Best Of Clan of Xymox'' was released, with re-recorded versions of early hits as well as later offerings.

Early 2009 Clan of Xymox switched labels, going to Trisol Records in Europe but staying on Metropolis in the USA and Gravitator in Russia. In July 2009 the single "Emily" was released.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles/EPs[link]

Remixes[link]

Live albums[link]

Compilations[link]

Remixes of other artists[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Category:Dutch musical groups Category:Dutch New Wave musical groups Category:Darkwave Category:Gothic rock groups Category:Post-punk music groups Category:4AD artists Category:Musical groups established in 1983 Category:Darkwave musical groups

Djivan Gasparyan (var. Jivan Gasparyan; , ; born October 12, 1928) is an Armenian musician and composer. He plays the duduk, a double reed woodwind instrument related to the orchestral oboe. Gasparyan is known as the Master of the duduk.

Biography[link]

He has toured the world several times with a small ensemble playing Armenian folk music. He has collaborated with many artists, such as Hossein Alizadeh, Sting, Erkan Ogur, Michael Brook, Peter Gabriel, Brian May, Lionel Richie, Derek Sherinian, Ludovico Einaudi, Boris Grebenshchikov, David Sylvian, Hans Zimmer and Andreas Vollenweider.

Djivan Gasparyan and Hossein Alizadeh were jointly nominated for a 2007 Grammy Award for their 2006 collaboration album ''Endless Vision'' (an album featuring a trilingual arrangement and recording of Sari Galin).

Gasparyan played as part of the Armenian entry "Apricot Stone" by Eva Rivas at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo and became the oldest ever person to feature in a Eurovision Song Contest performance, but was not officially listed as a guest artist.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Category:1928 births Category:Living people Category:Armenian composers Category:Dudukahars Category:Woodwind musicians Category:Real World artists Category:All Saints Records artists