Qawwali is the sort of genre where the performance of one song commonly goes on for twenty minutes or a half hour--or probably more. So this is a very different packaging of the vocal style. The accordion-like instrument you hear is a harmonium, which is a standard instrument in qawwali. Qawwali itself is not quite my thing, but I have seen at least one live performance (not by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) and mostly enjoyed it. I find that a lot of these Sufi or Sufi-related music genres, even the ones I don't particularly like, are more enjoyable live. Gnawa is another one. I don't really love it, but the immersive live experience is pretty great, and those metallic clappers they use are not just there by accident: they can take you somewhere else. On the Sufi angle, the song may be about yearning for the beloved, but it's possible that the beloved here is actually God. A lot of Sufi material across different countries is written in those terms. I don't know how this particular song was intended, but the singer's repertoire was typically Sufi, so there is a good chance it's presented with that sort of interpretation expected. At the risk of talking too much about mystical practices I don't follow or have any experience with, I get the sense that the long for union with God in itself pushes the mystic into ecstatic states. I'm not sure one really needs all of that context though, because music can transform emotional pain into joy, pleasure, ecstasy, etc. You should take a look at Michael Brook too. A lot of his work is ambient or new age, but new age of the sort that appeals to people who might not normally listen to new age music. His collaborators include people like Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Jon Hassell, Harold Budd, David Sylvian, and so on. I feel like he was higher-profile in the 80's and 90's, but maybe that just has to do with who I was around at the time.
Ohhhh the Harmonium. I'll have to try to commit that to memory because I always called it the pump organ but I do remember learning about their prominence in Indian music in one of my World Music courses back in Uni. It's interesting to hear that it shows up in other nearby cultures' music as well. Thanks for the background info about the possible spiritual angle in the lyrics and the Brook recommendation.
@@CriticalReactions Keep in mind that Pakistan wasn't broken off from "British India" as an independent country, until 1947. And that involved massive population transfers in both directions (from India to Pakistan, and Pakistan to India).
@@CriticalReactions Hi Brian, kudos to Rudy who explained it quite well, I'm myself a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Sufi Qawwali music too & I've mentioned that before, and tu put a long story short, for instance I recommend a legendary song called "Aqam Ali Ali" but in this rendition live the song in the video is titled : "Ali Ali Maula Ali Ali Haq" (- Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - OSA Official HD Video), you' ll get more what it is all about (praise of God that put the artist & the audience in a kinda trance....). Also it was initially more complicated musically as I've been told but as the Qawwali practise was designed to touch the most people possible during wandering/tours of Qawwali bands in the country but also internationally, major artists imagined an instrument that could be easy to transport yet reminding a bit the accordion, on a more minimalistic form though, but perfect for this mesmerising style of music. Also the choir & the tabla percussion are key for me in that style. It is of course also based on "variation on repetition" if I may say....(I'm not a music technician like you). Hope you'll enjoy it...and yes this, live, it is even more impressive. Here this is nice a collaboration but it is just scratching the surface regarding Nusrat talent...
More Nusrat please
Mustt Mustt have more Nusrat
That album blew my mind when it came out; going to have to dust it off and give it a listen again, it's been a while.
Qawwali is the sort of genre where the performance of one song commonly goes on for twenty minutes or a half hour--or probably more. So this is a very different packaging of the vocal style. The accordion-like instrument you hear is a harmonium, which is a standard instrument in qawwali. Qawwali itself is not quite my thing, but I have seen at least one live performance (not by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) and mostly enjoyed it. I find that a lot of these Sufi or Sufi-related music genres, even the ones I don't particularly like, are more enjoyable live. Gnawa is another one. I don't really love it, but the immersive live experience is pretty great, and those metallic clappers they use are not just there by accident: they can take you somewhere else.
On the Sufi angle, the song may be about yearning for the beloved, but it's possible that the beloved here is actually God. A lot of Sufi material across different countries is written in those terms. I don't know how this particular song was intended, but the singer's repertoire was typically Sufi, so there is a good chance it's presented with that sort of interpretation expected. At the risk of talking too much about mystical practices I don't follow or have any experience with, I get the sense that the long for union with God in itself pushes the mystic into ecstatic states. I'm not sure one really needs all of that context though, because music can transform emotional pain into joy, pleasure, ecstasy, etc.
You should take a look at Michael Brook too. A lot of his work is ambient or new age, but new age of the sort that appeals to people who might not normally listen to new age music. His collaborators include people like Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Jon Hassell, Harold Budd, David Sylvian, and so on. I feel like he was higher-profile in the 80's and 90's, but maybe that just has to do with who I was around at the time.
Ohhhh the Harmonium. I'll have to try to commit that to memory because I always called it the pump organ but I do remember learning about their prominence in Indian music in one of my World Music courses back in Uni. It's interesting to hear that it shows up in other nearby cultures' music as well.
Thanks for the background info about the possible spiritual angle in the lyrics and the Brook recommendation.
@@CriticalReactions Keep in mind that Pakistan wasn't broken off from "British India" as an independent country, until 1947. And that involved massive population transfers in both directions (from India to Pakistan, and Pakistan to India).
@@rudymeixell3426 Ahhhh that explains a lot.
@@CriticalReactions Hi Brian, kudos to Rudy who explained it quite well, I'm myself a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Sufi Qawwali music too & I've mentioned that before, and tu put a long story short, for instance I recommend a legendary song called "Aqam Ali Ali" but in this rendition live the song in the video is titled : "Ali Ali Maula Ali Ali Haq" (- Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - OSA Official HD Video), you' ll get more what it is all about (praise of God that put the artist & the audience in a kinda trance....). Also it was initially more complicated musically as I've been told but as the Qawwali practise was designed to touch the most people possible during wandering/tours of Qawwali bands in the country but also internationally, major artists imagined an instrument that could be easy to transport yet reminding a bit the accordion, on a more minimalistic form though, but perfect for this mesmerising style of music. Also the choir & the tabla percussion are key for me in that style. It is of course also based on "variation on repetition" if I may say....(I'm not a music technician like you). Hope you'll enjoy it...and yes this, live, it is even more impressive. Here this is nice a collaboration but it is just scratching the surface regarding Nusrat talent...
I love this album. Michael Brooks's albums are great, and Nusrat is Nusrat like no one else.
I discovered Nusrat way back on the Natral Born Killers sound track, you should check out more of his stuff
nusrat influenced jeff buckley's singing technique if you remember him
For Sufi-esque qawali, check out the Song "Aadam" by Fareed Ayaz & Abu Mohammad. It's the coke studio season 12 session.
Awesome
andre antunes did some awesome prog metal covers of some of nusrats songs. you should check them out
If you like this then coke studio Pakistan is a Pandora’s box.
You should try Seeds by Exotic Animal Petting Zoo
please react to best finnish prog-rock band : kingston wall : iii tri-logy, track : "The Real Thing"
Hmm, how long until people start taking offence when things are mis-genre'd
I see it often, especially on older works. Those comments very rarely rise to the top of the comment section though
More Nusrat please
Mustt Mustt have more Nusrat