Wed 3/19 @ 7:30PM
Pakistani musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was largely responsible for familiarizing westerners with Qawwali, Sufi devotional music featuring lengthy compositions intended to create a trance state. Khan collaborated with Peter Gabriel and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and provided music for soundtracks of high-profile films like Natural Born Killers, Dead Man Walking and The Last Temptation of Christ.
Because he died fairly young — he was only 48 when he died in 1997 — he left a void in the music he had popularized. One of the people who picked up the standard was his student, Asif Ali Khan, who has continued to hone the style with his own “party” (the name for the ensemble of vocalist and musicians who accompany a qawwali performer), building on the centuries-old traditions of this music that relies heavily on call-and-response vocals, intricate percussion, and propulsive handclaps. He too has played high-profile gigs like the 2012 London Olympics, keeping the music in the public ear.
He’ll perform at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium.
Tickets are $29-$45.
clevelandart.org/sufi-devotional-music-asif-ali-khan