LONDON (The Thursday Times) — 1990 mein Pakistan ke afsanawi qawwali gulukar Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan apne career ke aik nihayat aham mor par thay. Apni zordar aawaz aur aawaz ke tez raftar improvisations ki badaulat bain-ul-aqwami tawajjuh pehle hi hasil kar chukne ke baad, Khan apne mausiqi ke andaz ki nayi tareef karne ke qareeb thay. Usi saal woh Mustt Mustt jari karne wale thay, aik yaadgar fusion record jis mein producer Michael Brook ki rehnumai mein rawayati Sufi shayri ko jadeed maghribi aawazon se jora gaya tha. Slap bass, reverb se bharpoor percussion aur electric guitar ko mila kar, yeh album Khan ke aam repertoire se hat kar thi, aur is ne unhein maghribi shuoor mein mazeed aage barha diya.
Lekin Mustt Mustt ke jari hone se sirf chand maheene pehle, Khan ne Brook ke saath chaar rawayati qawwali compositions record ki theen. Lekin yeh tracks kabhi manzar-e-aam par nahin aaye – yahan tak ke ab. Chain of Light, aik taweel arse se gumshuda album jo haal hi mein dobara daryaft aur remaster ki gayi, Khan ke 1997 mein 48 saal ki umr mein qabl az waqt inteqal ke 27 saal baad jari kar di gayi hai. Yeh album Khan ki aawaz par maharat ki, un ke urooj ke dinon mein, aik ghair-mamooli jhalak pesh karta hai, aur Sufi mausiqi ki rawayat mein un ke bemisal hisse ki tareef karta hai.
Album ka aaghaz Ya Allah Ya Rehman se hota hai, jo Khan ke qawwali repertoire ka aik mashhoor kalam hai. Tabla ki zindadil groove aur harmonium ki dhun Khan ki aawaz ko bunyad faraham karti hain, jo jazbati gehrai ke saath bila takalluf buland hoti hai. Jaise jaise kalam aage barhta hai, un ka gulukar giroh – jo "the Party" ke naam se jana jata hai – hum ahangi ki nayi tehein shamil karta hai, jabke lehrati hui taal musalsal raftar barqarar rakhti hai. Doosra track, Aaj Sik Mitran Di, dheeme tempos ka jaiza leta hai, aur Khan ki aawaz ko zyada sust harmonium ke saath bunne ka mauqa deta hai, phir raftar tez ho jati hai, jis ka ikhtitam tez raftar sargam vocalizations ke saans rok dene wale muzahire par hota hai.
However, it is on Ya Gaus Ya Meeran that Khan truly ascends to new heights. This nine-minute qawwali, a composition the Party had never recorded before, constantly subverts expectations by shifting tempos and rhythms, leaving Khan’s voice as the only constant. At its climax, Khan delivers the soaring refrain: “Every breath of mine is related to his chain of light,” a moment so powerful it lends the album its name.
This is no posthumous attempt to cash in on forgotten recordings. Chain of Light is a cohesive body of work that showcases Khan’s unmatched command of traditional Sufi qawwali before he transformed it with Western influences. The album serves as a reminder of the singer’s incredible talent, drawing listeners into his spiritual journey with every note.
Rediscovering and releasing the album
The story of how Chain of Light resurfaced begins in October 2022, when photojournalist Saiyna Bashir interviewed Michael Brook in his Los Angeles studio. During their conversation, Brook revealed the existence of unreleased tracks he had recorded with Khan in 1990 at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in England. Bashir quickly informed Zakir Thaver, her filmmaker colleague in Pakistan, about the discovery, and the process of reviving the lost album began.
The recordings had sat in Real World’s archives for more than 30 years, until they were unearthed in June 2021 by Oran Mullan, the label’s project manager. During a routine search of warehouse shelves, Mullan stumbled upon the 24-track, two-inch magnetic tapes labeled “Trad Album” by “Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.” Initially believing the recordings to be a previously released qawwali album, Mullan soon realized their significance. He and Amanda Jones, the label’s manager, fast-tracked the digitization of the recordings and sent them to Brook for further review.
Brook, who had collaborated with Khan on the albums Mustt Mustt (1990) and Night Song (1996), was unsure of what to expect from the rediscovered recordings. But as he listened to Ya Gaus Ya Meeran, Brook was struck by the harmonic depth and originality of Khan’s performance. The track, based on the poetry of Sufi mystic Abdul Qadir Gilani, carries a spiritual weight that Khan delivers with both precision and passion.
The rediscovery of Chain of Light adds another layer to Khan’s legacy. It offers a rare glimpse into his traditional roots, at a time when he was beginning to experiment with new musical landscapes. The album is being released by Real World Records, with the involvement of Khan’s daughter Nida and Usha Rajan, a family friend and custodian of his estate.
A musical journey across continents
Khan’s relationship with Michael Brook and Peter Gabriel’s Real World label marked a pivotal moment in his career. Having risen to fame in Pakistan during the 1980s, Khan’s international breakthrough came when Gabriel invited him to collaborate on the soundtrack for Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988. The fusion of Khan’s qawwali vocals with Gabriel’s ambient soundscapes created a unique spiritual atmosphere that resonated with global audiences.
Reflecting on his first encounter with Khan at the 1985 WOMAD festival, Gabriel described the experience as “extraordinary.” Watching Khan perform at dusk, Gabriel felt the entire arena become “charged with the qawwali and that extraordinary, spellbinding voice.” Working with Khan in the studio later on, Gabriel was in awe of his ability to create emotionally powerful melodies on the fly, improvising entire compositions as if they emerged from the ether.
Brook echoed Gabriel’s sentiments, recalling how Khan would instruct the engineers to “wave in the window when you want us to stop,” as he and his ensemble could go on for hours. Despite the spontaneous nature of their sessions, Khan’s performances were always infused with “magic,” as Brook noted when listening to the newly rediscovered tracks.
A lasting legacy
Despite Khan’s collaborations with Western artists like Eddie Vedder and Trent Reznor, as well as his contributions to the soundtracks of Dead Man Walking and Natural Born Killers, his fame did not translate into financial success. According to the filmmakers behind the upcoming documentary Ustad, Khan’s lack of proper representation meant that he missed out on lucrative deals that could have secured his financial future.
Nevertheless, Khan’s music continues to resonate with audiences around the world. His collaborations with Western artists helped introduce qawwali music to new generations, while his traditional performances remain deeply cherished by fans of Sufi devotional music.
With the release of Chain of Light, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice once again bridges the gap between East and West, offering listeners a chance to experience the spiritual ecstasy of his qawwali compositions in their purest form. Three decades later, his music still shines with the brilliance of a true maestro, connected to the “chain of light” that transcends time and space.
