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Article: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: The Original Trance Music.(Arts&Entertainment)(Review)
- Article from:
- The New York Observer (New York, NY)
- Article date:
- June 18, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The New York Observer. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: NYO Staff
To call a concert, especially that of a singer of religious songs, a "revelation" is beyond cliche. Yet there is no better term to describe the first time I saw the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
In his prime, the Pakistani qawwali singer was one of the most passionate and imaginative vocalists of his time, and that night in October 1992 at the Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Mass., he sang his Sufi devotional music with full-throated abandon. Qawwali's purpose is to bring people closer to God, and hearing Mr. Khan belt out wildly careening lines with you've-got-to-be-kidding-me rhythmic flair, it was clear that some sort of transcendence ...