Chain of Light

By any measure this is a huge event, 27 years after his death we have the release of four newly discovered recordings by the extraordinary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. They come from a session held at the studios of Real World Records in 1990 and show him at the very height of his powers. Nusrat’s place in bringing qawwali to a wider audience is the stuff of legend and the performances here show exactly why that is the case. They begin with ‘Ya Allah Ya Rehman’, and as soon as his voice powers in over the tabla and harmonium you know you are in for a treat as Nusrat’s melismatic vocalisations float over the collective singing of the group. This is followed by ‘Aaj Sik Mitran Di’ which builds in energy and rhythmic complexity, and then the melodic virtuosity of ‘Ya Gaus Ya Meeran’ which puts the group through their paces. The longest, and for me finest, track is the final ‘Khabram Raseed Imshab’ which takes us back to Amir Khusrau and the very roots of the genre. There is really nothing more to say other than these performances are sheer class, and the world is a far better place for their discovery.