Faiz Ali Faiz Performing at Womadelaide 2011 Australia World Music Festival
Quawwali is a culturally significant musical style to Sufis- people who practice Sufism (a fascinating off-shoot of Islam). Faiz Ali Faiz is considered to be the spiritual successor to the Quawwali throne of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who himself is considered to be one of the greatest vocalists in recorded history. And with good reason. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan recorded 125 albums, had a vocal range that spread 6 octaves, and had an ability to perform with mind-blowing intensity over long periods that put James Brown to shame. Quawwali, it seems, is something you are born into. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan‘s direct ancestors had been Quawwals for six hundred years, and Faiz Ali Faiz comes from a seven generation line of Quawwals. Their music is devotional and passes down culturally significant values through generations of Sufis, which is really just about as folk as you can get. Faiz Ali Faiz (Urdu: فیض علی فیض; born 1962 in Sharaqpur, Pakistan) is a Pakistani qawwali singer. Faiz was born into a family of seven generations of qawwals. He studied classical music with Ustad Ghulam Shabir Khan and Ustad Jafat Khan, and qawwali music with Muhammad Ali Faridi and Abdur Rahim Faridi Qawwal. He was a close acquaintance with the world-renown qawwali performer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and is considered the latter's spiritual successor within the genre Faiz Ali Faiz regularly performs the qawwal "Mustt Mustt", a signature song of his deceased mentor.
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Keywords: ali, faiz, music, pakistani, quawwali, sufi, world
