...this blog captures in order the albums as I pull these gems off the shelf and groove to them .....

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - En Concert A Paris (1985)

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - En Concert a Paris - Vol. 1 &  2

  I likely would not have come to know and appreciate Pakistani Qawwali music if it weren't for the extraordinary voice of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan !  I first heard his voice in Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation Of Christ" and then I was on a mission to find more by this voice that touched my soul.

     Ali Khan was well known in his home country as an iconic artist of sacred music with an octave register that ranges from that of an angel to that of a dragon !    His jazz-like improvisations of Sufi Texts made their first impression on the Western music world with these historic 1985 concerts from Paris.
  
    Nusrat was schooled in classic style musically by his father, renowned qawwal Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and was at his peak in these electrifying concerts from Paris.   Nusrat was accompanied by his brothers and troupe on vocals, tabla, handclaps, and harmoniums. The long, stately pieces literally bend time and space as only Ali Khan can .  

His voice transcends the human spirit and touches me in ways few ever have.   A few months before his untimely death Nusrat and legendary music producer Rick Rubin recorded a wonderful 2 CD set aptly titled "The Final Studio Recordings" which is also essential...buts leave that to another review....
 

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