Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan makes the purist pop of all

by Jon Garelick ![“NusratAfro-pop enthusiasts boogie to Salif Keita, Kanda Bongo Man, Youssou N’Dour, and Angélique Kidjo. Proud Celts have Clannad, Altan, and the Chieftains. Brazilian pop fanatics worship Milton Nascimento. But in Alternative Nation, the world-music man of the moment is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The one-sheet from his publicist is an alterna-rock wet dream. Peter Gabriel, Trent Reznor, and Eddie Vedder have all worked with him. Joan Osborne wants to study with him. Jeff Buckley has interviewed him for Interview, and techno brats are vying for the remix rights. And the Nusrat bonanza continues, with several new albums and an appearance this Sunday, April 28, on VH-1 (9 p.m.) as part of the VH-1 Honors tribute to the Witness human-rights organization.

Courtesy: NPR

[audio:http://nusratonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/nusrat-voice-of-pakistan.mp3] Click Here To Download

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan helped spread Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music, around the world.

The term " first contact" is often used when a new life-form is discovered in Alien Movies. This Concert performance of NFAK was nothing less than " The First Contact" of the french audience present in the crowd with Music of “Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan”. When coming out of the concert, most of them felt deeply moved or even transported to different reality (as they themselves reported), the last two hours were imprinted on their lives forever….

Before I post the audio and video links to this performance, lets first talk about this concert in particular and why I feel that it’s best ever. First, NFAK was in his best improvisation mood that day, placed in front of a almost french crowd, who he knew wouldn’t understand a word he utters, sargams and fireworks were the best he could do, and it lead to some of the best improvisations ever.

If God (whoever he is) could choose someone to sing on his behalf, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Nusrat would be it.

Though calling their effort a rendition is not much correct as they pretty much sing what NFAK sang, their inspirations, aspirations and bravery is still incomparable…. They are exactly the result of what Nusrat always wanted… He must be very happy seeing them from heaven.

What follows are the performances of soulful NFAK’s tracks by the Party at various locations world-wide..

In today’s video treat, Wasim Akram remembers how the team won the World Cup & How much obsessed they were with “Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan” . It was 1992, and cricketers like Javed Miandad  were already die-hard NFAK fans. NFAK himself started taking interest in cricket those days as he was becoming a good friend of the Pakistani cricket team. Just before the team left home for World-Cup, NFAK personally recorded many songs specially for the team on request of Javed Miandad. Team played these songs pretty much every time (before match-after match, during practice sessions, during breaks and of course  to celebrate the victory)…

Child Marriage & similar social evils still remains prevalent in certain parts of India and many Asian countries, a social stigma that cannot be tolerated at all. I myself can never forget the haunting scenes from Bandit Queen where a 11-year old Phoolan Devi was married (or sold) to a 25 year old. The background score of this scene was a soulful and emotional track by NFAK which can force you to cry if you understand the lyrics. A young girl asking her father about  “You have decided to marry your beloved daughter in such a small age! What was my fault to get this I cant understand?” and accepting her fate. So what we have today is the translation of this song by Bobby Sing ( from www.bobbytalkscinema.com ) , he understands and feels that this song might be the answer to the social & personal stigma , this song will help the girl-parents take right decision for their blossoming flower .. , So Do I.. Read Along…

This is a humble message for all those young would-be parents who will be reaching this stage soon when they might find themselves in a dilemma. And may be at that time, the meaningful memories of watching this video may help you to take the right decision.

People in Pakistan discovered the true greatness of NFAK only after his huge success in West, a truth no one can deny. This creative short-movie revolves around a usual Pakistani NFAK fan, who departs from the filmy renditions and discovers the true traditional and ecstatic Nusrat. As this trend continued..

Nusrat was no more just a great Qawwal in Pakistan…. he was the countries greatest son ever.