Performing in Montreal Sunday October 1'st
        Tickets on sale at Place Des Arts (514) 842-2112
        Admission network tel (514) 790-1245/ 1-800-361-4595

        NOTE:: Please mention that you got this info from Internet for
        special consideration regarding seats etc.....

        Please visit our site @
 http://www.ece.concordia.ca/~trehan/ashok/info/nusrat.html
        or
        send an e-mail to a...@vax2.concordia.ca
        call 514-387 7878

        Do not forget to mention the " internet "

                                        BIOGRAPHY        
         NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN

         The art of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan stretches back almost a millennium
         to the founding of Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam which
         originated in Tenth Century Persia.

         Qawwali is Sufi devotional music. It has been a dominant feature of
         Indian Islamic culture since the Twelfth Century. The music's
         popularity has since transcended religious and geographical barriers.
         Qawwali, with its enormous emotional strength, is popular with
         Hindus. Sikhs and Muslims.

         Qawwali singers perform a sophisticated and ecstatic form of
         devotion. The word 'qawwali' means 'utterance' and the 'qawwal' -
         meaning a wise of philosophical utterance- is the voice of
         divine power. The strength of the qawwal is his (as qawwals are
         usually male) power to convey a mystical religious message by
         capturing the consciousness of their audience.
         The aim is to transport the listener to another level of enlighten-
         ment or inner knowledge.

         Contemporary qawwali embraces a range of styles: from the classical
         forms to folk embellishments, from the pure to the commercial.
         Its wide popularity comes partly from the fact qawwali
         draws upon a rich vein of poetic imagery denied elsewhere in Islam.
         In recent times, however, qawwali has been subjected to more secular
         pressures: the mystical imagery of the music has been adapted for
         very different purposes.

         The film industry of the Indian Sub-Continent has exploited the
         extraordinary qualities of qawwa'i. The ecstatic religious
         love of Allah the Prophet or the
         Muslim saints - subtly interwoven with themes of secular love
         in genuine qawwali Iyrics - has been replaced by
         far more straight-forward romantic interplay between the sexes.

         Such is the legend of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, however, that he has
         many times crossed these cultural barriers with no diminution
         of his status as the greatest living exponent of qawwali.

         His classical ancestry is impeccable. Khan can trace his family's
         history through six centuries and, indeed his father Usted and
         uncles Mubarak and Salamat Ali Khan were all qawwals of classical
         distinction.

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         Nusrat was born on October 13, 1948 in Lyallpur - decolonialised as
         Faisalbad in 1979 -in the Punjab province of Pakistan. As a child
         he was given private music lessons by his father although it was not
         until Ulsted's death, in 1964, that Nusrat began serious studies
         in the art of qawwali.

         Two years later Nusrat started to perform in public with his uncles.
         His talents were evident, even at the early age of eighteen. By
         1971, with the death of Mubarak Ali Khan, Nusrat had established
         himself as one of the greatest living qawwals. His status was
         confirmed by overwhelming critical and public acclaim: Nusrat was
         'Shahen-shah-e-qawwali' - the brightest-shining star of qawwali.

         His fame has moved beyond the traditional world of classical qawwali.
         Nusrat works frequently in the Sub-continent's popular film business.
         In 1979 he was even invited by the famous actor/director Raj Kapoor
         to sing at the wedding of his son Rishi before an array of the most
         prominent members of Bombay's film industry.

         Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan has created an extraordinary legend in the
         Islamic world, yet his music has a universality sufficient to touch
         the widest audiences. In 1985 Nusrat appeared at the WOMAD Festival
         in Britain. The audience was mainly white and non-Muslim, yet,
         without even a rudimentary understanding of Persian poetry or the
         Urdu or Punjabi languages, they gave him an ecstatic response.
         The power of the spirit transcends human barriers.

         Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's latest album, THE LAST PROPHET, is his sixth
         album for the Real World label and features four of his own
         compositions.

         For Further Information:

         Kitty Sawhney
         phone(514)387-7878
        Email--a...@vax2.concordia.ca