Have you ever tried any of NFAK Ghazals… When it came to Ghazals NFAK thunderous voice used to become honey-soft , Sargam Improvisations used to become murkiyan ( A murki is cluster of notes that sounds like a short, subtle taan ), Repetitions of Phrases by Ensemble was replaced by NFAK’s solo repetitions full of Adayagi( Elite way of Expressing) and intense hand movements were now just limited to eyes and facial expressions… ( Though NFAK sometimes induced Sargams in Ghazals too… Cross-blending as he always did..)

Data Durbar( or Darbar) is the shrine of great Sufi Saint, Sufi saint, Abul Hassan Ali Hajvery (more commonly known as Daata Ganj Baksh, meaning the master who bestows treasures). It is one of the most important and oldest Sufi Shrines of World.Data Darbar is also viewed as one of the home grounds of traditional Qawwali. Till date , every Thursday there is a Qawwali performance at the shrine which starts at 3pm and continues throughout the evening. Data Darbar holds special significance in Nusrat’s Life, his performances here were the one that established him as a Great Qawwal in his native Pakistan and shut those down who accused NFAK of westernizing Qawwali, devotees present during NFAK’s  yearly performances on Urs in Data Darbar Complex are still found describing it as unmatchable and divine. When NFAK performed here first time, story is that Other Qawwals scheduled to perform after NFAK didn’t even got a chance.. why? You obviously know that…

Getting Off Music for some time now, lets me tell you more about NFAK’s likes, the second most particular one this time.

If there was anything else NFAK was ever known for other than Music and nature, it was his appetite. He never used to eat before and during the performances which lasted 5-10 hours. You will be amazed to know that once he ate 70 kebabs in one go after a performance. NFAK was quiet weak when it came to compromising with unfamiliar food, so during his World Tours (which continued for months), he used to face a lot of problems. Once during his Germany visit, he literally lived on fruits for a few days. Another incident happened in Japan where he couldn’t eat Japanese rice and organizers finally had to arrange food from a Indian family living there.

Cutting right to chest, if you are a big fan of “Allah Hoo” , then you might be knowing that the most famous version of Allah Hoo was recorded in this concert, I am talking about the 15 minutes versions you might have heard on albums like “Imprint”, “The Emperor” , “Live At Washington University” and any other famous compilation album. This is also the concert that was mentioned in our fan-story in previous post.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, was the Celebrity Visiting Artist in the University of Washington Ethnomusicology Program in 1992-93. It was during the end of his visit that there was a sudden demand of a Concert performance, other ensemble members were back in Pakistan, NFAK initially thought of giving a solo performance with Tari Khan on Tabla, however the other member flew in just a few hours before the time. And then they gave us such a great show (after traveling for over 20 hours continuously), hats off to them.

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So the performance has all the great tracks “Allah Hoo”, “Man Kunto Maula” (Might be the beat version), “Mast Mast”, “Haq Ali Ali”, “Mera Piya Ghar aaya”…

this video posted below contains the main part of concert, the duo performance with Farrukh and another one with Tari khan will be posted soon..

So gear up for 90 minutes of pure music….

By: o. Sano ( NFAK’s Fan from USA)

Often i get asked…what was the best concert you have ever seen. In fact.i just got asked that recently and i said the same thing i say everytime, “i have many best concerts” yet i always return to one which is when i saw nusrat fateh ali khan perform at the university of washington. to this day my mind is completely blown away by the grace, the power and pureness of his music. i recall my friend hParker telling me about his concert and how tickets were on sale at wall of sound record store…we left the spot we were standing at and purchased them immediately. it was like yesterday i was looking at the tickets and amazed i was going to be able to see such an amazing artist - little did i know i was going to see something much bigger than i anticipated.