Label: Ocora

パキスタンの伝統音楽歌手/カッワーリーの第一人者であるヌスラット・ファテ・アリー・ハーン率いるグループが1985年に録音した名盤コンサート・シリーズの一つ。オリジナルは1986年に同Ocoraから出ていたLPのCD復刻版。ハルモニウム、タブラ、コーラス(6人)といったかなり大所帯の編成で、ヌスラットの独唱から徐々に激しい掛け合いへと発展、全体のテンポも加速し超絶技巧のボーカルで即興歌唱が始まるという驚異的テクニックを凝縮した名演。録音状態も最高。



The Music Room

The tradition of qawwali, originally limited to mausoleums and brotherhoods, has now spread everywhere, carried by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan –an exceptional performer: Sufi poems and incandescent lyricism.

While the Mongols conquered by the sword and oppression, the Sufis attracted peoples through the richness of their culture. During their gatherings, these Sufis listened to the poems of their masters, sung by musicians known as qawwal. Their music, enriched with new literary and musical elements, ultimately became the most widespread musical genre in Hindustani music. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s group is the leading proponent of this secular tradition.

“As each verse was sung, the emotion-filled audience uttered cries of joy that encouraged the musicians. Their gestures marked the syncopations and they swayed from one foot to the other. Deep silence fell when the singer embarked upon one of his subtle vocal variations...”