I realised that since upgrading speakers a few months ago last night was the first time I had listened to one of my favourite albums by this, now deceased, singer. It just made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I then sat and worked my way through most of the rest of my collection of his albums.
For those who want to try something utterly different I cannot recommend this artist highly enough. He sings traditional Pakistani (Sufi) devotional music but produced two RealWorld albums (Night Song and Musst Musst) in conjunction with ambient producer Michael Brook which are almost indefinable but quite magnificent. I have used these as demo albums over the years and at least 2 dealers have gone out and added them to their own collections straight after! These two are produced to the impeccable standard of all RealWorld work, they also recorded some traditional albums of his.
Once heard his voice will not be forgotten, you may also recognise it from the soundtrack to Dead Man walking.
Anyone else out there enjoyed his work?
I would love to have experienced him live, apparently he produced performances of astonishing ecstatic fervour, indeed such aperformance at Womad apparently brough him first to Western acclaim. I have looked for video recordings of live performances without success.
Bruce
Posted on: 13 September 2001 by Igor Zamberlan
than to try and get hold of a five CD set from Ocora (Harmonia Mundi France) called "Concerts a Paris" which I bought this summer in France for the price of two CDs in the HMF outlet in Montpellier. It's a recording of two concerts in Paris during the Eighties, and it's absolutely stunning. My knowledge of Pakistani Islamic culture is far from enough to understand what's going on intellectually. Emotionally, it can bring me into tears...
Igor
Posted on: 13 September 2001 by Dev B
Was a genius.
Check out:
1. Must Must
2. Shahen Shah (sp?)
3. Love Songs
4. Dust to Gold
5. Shabaaz (sp?)
Pretty powerful stuff. You hear a bit of his stuff on Late Junction on Radio 3.
Dev
Posted on: 20 September 2001 by Former member
I was introduced to him by "Dead Man Walking" and was fortunate enough to hear him live in Vancouver, several months later. Nothing prepared me for the experience - truly one of the best concerts I've ever attended. I while I enjoyed it, the Pakistani/ Canadians (I assume) in the audience were on another plane! Truly a remarkable experience all round.
Posted on: 20 September 2001 by Former member
I saw him twice at Womad in Reading; first in the evening in one of the tents. Hearing and watching him sing in a language I didn't understand, accompanying every phrase with urgent and eloquent hand gestures it suddenly struck me that here was an intellectual and emotional intensity I'd only ever encountered in Shakespeare. personally, I can't think of higher praise than that. It was completely unforgettable.
The second time was on an open air stage with lots of stoned people standing about in the rain, twitching in a vaguely rhythmical fashion. There were a number of rich and important looking Asian people sitting around the back of the stage nodding proprietorially. A couple of times an elegantly and expensively dressed white woman walked around the stage from her stance behind the most important looking bloke and seemed to give Nusrat some money. In mid - song.
It was all bit weird to my western eyes ( though I'm sure it probably seemed perfectly appropriate to everyone involved - clearly some kind of patronage going on - great musicians have to eat like anyone else) and I think you might understand that the atmosphere wasn't the same.
He really was a great musician though. I wish it was possible to see him again.
David
[This message was edited by David Scott on FRIDAY 21 September 2001 at 00:37.]
Posted on: 20 September 2001 by David Dever
Saw NFAK & party in late 1996 or early 1997 in Chicago (a less-used hotel-theatre venue called the Bismarck); this was before (methinks) the Michael Brook collaboration records (and likely before Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam discovered Hindustan's other export!). My friend Carl and I were probably one of five non-Pakistani members of the audience--truly a sight to see.
Shahen Shah (RealWorld catalogue numbers, anyone?) was a 50-cent record purchase for me in my college years and is suggestive of the atmosphere of the live performance I saw. Both of his nephews continue on in the same qawwali tradition, but with more commercial exposure (though I'm not certain which trendy export was more overcooked-Coleman Barks' translations/compilations of the poetry of Jalal-uddin Rumi, or Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan...)
Dave Dever, NANA
Posted on: 23 September 2001 by Former member
Shahen Shah (RealWorld catalogue numbers, anyone?) - RWCD3 (and 0777 7 86136 2 6 whatever that's for).
Its on the CDP at the moment and he's really getting tore into it and so am I 
I've always meant to investigate his "stuff" but never known where to start. Thanks one and all. And I'm now skint for the rest of the month :0 After I've bought Sangam obviously.
Steve RH
Posted on: 23 September 2001 by Former member
For those that are interested in other qawwali music, check out M. Saeed Chisti on Interra Records. Qari Sage Marin (vol. 1) is one of the most intense devotional music albums that I've heard.
In defense of Coleman Barks' pop status, he is quite sincere about his work "translating" Mevlana's teachings (I went to college where he teaches). You really can't appriecate him unless you've read earlier and more "victorian" translations by Nicholson or Arberry. They tend to be strict translations and rather sterile and uninviting (unless you're an academic). Because of Coleman, a 13th century muslim poet (who writes about Islam) has become one of best selling poets in America. I think that's pretty amazing.
brad
