Dust to Gold

by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Overview

Three years after the qawwali star's death in 1997, Real World began releasing material "discovered" in Nusrat's hometown, Lahore, Pakistan. These four pieces were evidently recorded there just months before he died, but they sound closer to the pristine Real World Studios sessions than to the earlier Pakistani material available on reissue releases. Here and there, one detects a little more rasp than usual in that fabulous voice, but the music is fresh and the tempos are, if anything, super energized, almost as if the party sensed it didn't have much time. The lead track, "Khawaja Tum Hi Ho" ("Master It Is Only You"), strikes with ferocity and doesn't let up for over 15 minutes. This and the second selection are as intense as the music on Shahbaaz (Real World 1991), perhaps the qawwal's fieriest studio session. The third selection, with it's Zen-like title "Koi Hai Na Ho Ga" ("There Was No One, There Will Not Be Anyone") unfolds over a clopping rhythm. Nusrat's voice rips and lashes its way through a moody refrain and the soaring counter melodies of vocal soloist Mujahed Mubarak Ali Khan. The closer "Noor-E-Khuda Hai Husn-E-Sarapa Rasool" ("The Light of God Is the Embodiment of the Prophet") is cooler. Like the final track on many Nusrat releases, it unfolds in a cantering triplet rhythm, letting the listener down gently from the spiritual heights of the earlier material. If there are more recordings of this quality in the vault, the world needs to hear them. ~ Banning Eyre

Product Details

Release Date:	10/07/2008
Label:	Realworld/Cema / Real World Records
UPC:	0884108008522

Tracks

1. Khawaja Tum Hi Ho [Master It Is Only You]
2. Data Teira Durbar [Master In Your Court]
3. Koi Hai Na Ho Ga [There Was No One, There Will Not Be Anyone
4. Noore-E-Khuda Hai Husn-E Sarapa Rasool [The Light Of God Is The Emodiment Of The Prophet]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan   Primary Artist,Vocals
Party   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan   Vocals
Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan   Vocals,Harmonium
Dildar Hussain   Tabla
Naseef Ahmed   Choir/Chorus
Ilyas Hussain   Choir/Chorus
Irshad Ali   Vocals,Harmonium
Asad Ali Khan   Vocals (Background),Choir/Chorus

Technical Credits

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan   Producer
Marc Bessant   Design,Graphic Design
Juergen Teller   Cover Photo
Shahzaad Ahmed   Engineer
Ali Khan   Composer
Stuart Bruce   Remixing