Pakistan

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (نصرت فتح علی خان ) was born in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), Punjab, Pakistan on October 13, 1948. He was a world-renowned Pakistani musician, primarily a singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis. Considered one of the greatest singers ever recorded, he possessed extraordinary vocal abilities. He could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours. Extending the 600-year old Qawwali tradition of his family, Khan is widely credited with introducing Qawwali music to international audiences. He is popularly known as ‘Shahenshah-e-Qawwali’, meaning ‘The King of Kings of Qawwali’.

He was the fifth child & first son of Fateh Ali Khan, a musicologist, vocalist, instrumentalist, & Qawwal. Khan's family, which included four older sisters & a younger brother, Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan, all grew up in central Faisalabad. Initially, his father did not want Khan to follow the family's vocation. He had his heart set on Khan choosing a much more respectable career path, & becoming a doctor, because he felt Qawwali artists had low social status. However, Khan showed such an aptitude for & interest in Qawwali that his father finally relented. Khan began by learning to play tabla alongside his father before progressing to learn Raag Vidya & Bol Bandish. He then went on to learn to sing within the classical framework of khayal (khayal is musical form with a single melodic line & no harmonic parts…the forms are called raag, & each raag is a complicated framework of melodic rules). Khan had his first public performance in 1964 at age of 16, at his father's chelum (a traditional graveside ceremony for his father that took place forty days after his father's death). Khan's training with his father was cut short by his father’s death, leaving Khan's paternal uncles, Mubarak Ali Khan & Salamat Ali Khan, to complete his training.

In 1971, after the death of Mubarak Ali Khan, Khan became the official leader of the family Qawwali party (Qawwal musical group). The party became known as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party. Khan has released 60+ albums, cassettes, & CDs. I am not sure of the exact number. I have never seen a complete discography, although many claim to be.

Khan was on his way to Los Angeles,CA to receive a kidney transplant when on August 11, 1997 he was admitted to Cromwell Hospital, London with kidney & liver failure. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest on Saturday, August 16, 1997 at age 48. His body was repatriated to Faisalabad, Pakistan where his funeral was a public affair.

Mustt Mustt is the first Qawwali fusion album, a collaboration between Khan & guitarist & producer Michael Brook. It was rock musician Peter Gabriel who suggested that Brook & Khan work together. The album was released in 1990 on Gabriel's Real World Records label. The song "Mustt Mustt" was remixed by British trip hop group Massive Attack. It was a club hit in the United Kingdom, being the first song in Urdu to reach the British charts. It is included on this release.

From the enclosed booklet:

“When the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomehni banned all music in Iran & declared it to be sacrilegious, his views by no means reflected the outlook of all Muslims. In fact, Islam's Sufi sect believes music to be a sacred & necessary element of spiritual life. Like Hindus, the Sufis passionately encourage meditation, dancing, & chanting. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is a master of traditional Qawwali, the music of the Sufis. Soulful & hypnotic, Khan's passionate singing on these songs of praise underscores the richness & vitality of Sufi culture. While Qawwali music goes back centuries, the use of synthesizers adds a modern edge to the highly absorbing Mustt Mustt.”

Front cover detail from 'Chant' by Russell Mills © 1990. This has been re-issued by Real Wprld in 2012 so the link may not last. Just letting you know.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Mustt Mustt, Real World Records RW LP 15, 1990.

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Side A –

Mustt Mustt (Lost in His Work)

Nothing Without You (Tery Bina)

Tracery

The Game

Taa Deem

Side B -

Sea of Vapours

Fault Lines

Tana Dery Na

Shadow

Avenue

Mustt Mustt (Massive Attack remix)

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Faiz Ali Faiz was born in 1962 in Sharaqpur, between Lahore & Faisalabad, Pakistan. He comes from a family of Qawwals going back seven generations. Faiz Ali started his professional career in 1978, creating at the same time his own Qawwali ensemble. Though Faiz is from Lahore, he practices the doaba style from eastern Pakistan. He admits he has been influenced by Sham-Chaurasi, a famous Khayal singing school to which Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s uncle Salamat Ali Khan belonged.

Faiz Ali learned classical music with Ghulam Shabbir Khan & Jafar Khan. He received Qawwali training with Masters Muhammad Ali Faridi & Abdur Rahim Faridi Qawwal. Faiz's voice is characterized by its large range & a specially rich tone that reminds many of the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who has been his revered inspiration, whose compositions he enjoys singing. Faiz is today regarded as one of the preeminent Qawwali singers of the world.

 Faiz Ali Faiz – Lanouvelle voix du Qawwali (The new Qawwali voice), World Village 479011, 2002. 

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Tracklist –

Aj Rang Hai

Allah Hu

Dil Jis Se Zinda Hai

Mera Piya Ghar Aya

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The Kominas are a Pakistani-American Desi punk rock band formed in Lowell, Massachusetts. The band currently includes Hassan Ali Malik - guitar, Basim Usmani - bass,  & Abdullah Saeed - drums.

The first Kominas' song ever released was "Rumi was a Homo (but Wahhaj is a Fag)" on the website Muslim Wake Up! in response to the then recent homophobic comments made by the Imam Siraj Wahhaj. In 2007, The Kominas pressed 2000 copies of their first album, Wild Nights in Guantanamo Bay which is now out of print.

Since the beginning, The Kominas have piqued the attention of mainstream media. The Guardian called their music "irreverent and un-PC". As the L.A. Times put it, "The recognition that The Kominas have gotten is a Catch-22 for them: while they welcome the attention from both the mainstream media and the blogosphere, they resent that the focus has been more on the Muslim angle than on their music." CNN wrote "Many conservative Muslims may peg The Kominas as heretics for their suggestive & irreverent lyrics. But the musicians say they are just trying to show both cultures how broad the spectrum of belief can be." The band has expressed frustration with the lack of quality music journalists covering their work.

 The Kominas – Wild Night in Guantanamo Bay, Poco Party (self-released), 2007. 

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Tracklist –

Sharia Law in the U.S.A.

Chaku!

Ayesha

Dishoom Bebe

Par Desi

9000 Miles

WalQaeda Superstore

Blow Shit Up

Layla

Rabyah

I Want a Handjob

Suicide Bomb the Gap

Rumi was a Homo (but Wahhaj is a Fag)

Enjoy or die,

NØ