Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
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 /TiVo
Similar artists
-
Mustt Mustt (Real World Gold)
World - Released by Real World Records on Nov 4, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Night Song (Real World Gold)
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Michael Brook
World - Released by Real World Records on Feb 20, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Night Song
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Michael Brook
World - Released by Real World Records on Jul 12, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shahen-Shah (Real World Gold)
World - Released by Real World Records on Jan 1, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mustt Mustt (Massive Attack Remix)
World - Released by Real World Records on Sep 28, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Last Prophet
World - Released by Real World Records on Mar 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nusrat's 50 Best of Urdu Sufi & Qawwali Hits
World - Released by Times Music on Oct 12, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In Concert In Paris, Vol. 2 (Pakistan)
World - Released by Ocora Radio France on Jan 1, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
His 40 Best of Punjabi Hits
World - Released by Nupur Audio on Oct 31, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Ya Hussain Ya Hussain
World - Released by TunePak Music Ltd. on Jan 1, 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
30 Greatest Hits Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Sabri Brothers
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sabri Brothers
World - Released by Times Music on Oct 28, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Star Rise
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Michael Brook
World - Released by Real World Records on Jan 1, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Top 50 Essentials
World - Released by Times Music on Apr 23, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
World - Released by Network on Jun 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Aur Pyar Ho Gaya (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
World - Released by Saregama on Dec 30, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dust to Gold
World - Released by Real World Records on May 1, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mere Rashke Qamar
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
World - Released by Hi-Tech Music Ltd on Sep 27, 2017
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anthology - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
World - Released by Navras Records on Oct 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo