Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Dust To Gold
Real World
Hooked on phonics? Say noos-rot fah-tay ah-lee con. Now say it a little faster. That’s his name.
Hooked on Pakistani Qawwali singing? Ali Khan’s got you covered. A party of eight joins him in the highest of spirits on vocals, tablas, harmonium, and clapping out four quarter-hour long or so praise songs.
Remember the East-Indian street musician playing a flute to get a cobra to rise out of a basket? Well, when Ali Khan sings, an entire countryside of cobras come out and breakdance. You probably will, too, so it is recommended that you listen in a snake-free zone.
Alas, Mr. Khan has sadly passed on, but the vaults have been discovered and opened, and his exalted vocalizations continue to find their way to us. Although you may have heard his vocals slipped into others compositions, collaborations, trance remixes, or soundtrack work, this time it is magnificently captured in its pure ethnic traditional setting.
Dust To Gold can take you to another world if your spirit can be set free.
Real World, c/o Narada, 4650 N. Port Washington Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53212-1063; realwrld@narada.com
