Keeping Focus on Good Karma

The mantle of responsibility was handed to qawwali singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan this month with unexpected suddenness.

On Aug. 16, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, his mentor, guru and uncle, died of coronary failure in a London hospital. The unexpected passing of the younger Khan’s musical role model was almost overwhelming.

A few days later, still in tears, Rahat Khan, 24, long designated as Nusrat Khan’s successor, could only say, “He left me with a very big responsibility.”

The manner in which Rahat Khan, who was Nusrat Khan’s student from the age of 4, deals with that responsibility will be on display today at the Greek Theatre in a program titled the Good Karma Festival. The program has now been designated as a tribute to the life and the art of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

“Before he left Pakistan to go to London,” explained Suresh “Baba” Varma, the program’s producer and a longtime associate of Nusrat Khan, “Nusrat told Rahat, ‘I want you to carry on the family tradition. You’re the only one I’ve taught to bring that tradition forward, and I want you to take qawwali into the 21st century.’ ”

But Rahat Khan, who has been viewed as Nusrat Khan’s likely successor for years (Nusrat’s only child is a daughter, and qawwali is almost exclusively sung by males), plans to do more than take the tradition forward. His initial work as a solo performer (which began even before Nusrat Khan’s death) will be an effort to reestablish the classical roots of his music.

“Qawwali,” Rahat Khan said, “is a music which has a message for everybody--a message of love, God, peace and a relaxation of your mind. Peace and love, mind and body. A connection with the Holy Prophet at the same time that you are connected to your loved ones.”

Although the message will be the same, there will be marked differences between the performances of Rahat and Nusrat Khan. The first will be visual. Young and slender, Rahat Khan presents a vastly different image from the corpulent, Buddha-like Nusrat Khan.

“Part of my message is that I’m young,” Rahat Khan said. “And I would like to use my youth to help me connect with the younger generation in America.”

In addition, the small ensemble Rahat Khan will bring to the Greek will differ from the large group (or “party,” as musical ensembles are referred to in qawwali music) listeners heard during Nusrat Khan’s programs last year at the House of Blues and the Universal Amphitheatre.

“My party will only have four players,” Rahat Khan noted. “This is the original, classical way of singing qawwali. Nusrat had the luxury of having more people in his party, with many singers and musicians who shared the music. But in classical qawwali, it all comes down to one person, the lead singer.”

Classical qawwali stretches back, according to most sources, to 9th century Islamic uses of music to attain spiritual enlightenment through the creation of trance-like states. It is most directly associated with Sufism, a wing of Islam that employs dance, music and poetry, often in hypnotic repetition, as techniques to achieve a divine ecstasy.

Although qawwali generally uses Persian texts, its musical content is strongly indebted to Indian classical music’s ragas and talas. In the hands of adventurous contemporary practitioners such as Nusrat Khan, it has moved beyond its religious associations to become an internationally popular form of world music.

Said Rahat Khan: “The only difference in the way we sing the music in different parts of the world is that when we perform in America or in the West, where people do not understand the words, we try to sing less lyrics and more ragas and more rhythm. But when we perform in Pakistan, of course, we emphasize the words, because everyone understands the words.”

For his performances on the current tour, Rahat Khan will use the tabla player from Nusrat Khan’s party. He will also be accompanied by his father, Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan, also a qawwal, who will sing counter-lines, mirroring and answering Rahat Khan’s melodies.

“I feel good that my father will be with me,” he said. “We will start together, then take turns on the improvisation. The whole qawwali process is improvisation, but it also is very spontaneous, depending upon the audience reaction and the place in which we’re performing. Most of the time the music is made up on stage while we’re singing.”

Rahat Khan, who performed with Nusrat Khan in his highly successful tours of the last two years, expresses a powerful desire to reach his American audiences in a similar fashion.

“Nusrat said,” Rahat Khan noted, “that the show he did at the House of Blues was his best concert ever. He said, ‘I never in my entire career had such a standing ovation. This is the first time, ever, in my career.’ And he was right. American audiences are very enthusiastic about our music. I just hope I can create the same kind of enthusiasm.”

Ironically, concert producer Varma had secretly planned to have Nusrat Khan also participate in the Good Karma Festival.

“This was my secret plan,” he said, “to bring Nusrat on stage with Rahat to surprise everyone. But now, of course, it isn’t going to happen.”

For Rahat Khan, however, Nusrat will always be present, always an essential element in his music.

“He trained me for 20 years for this responsibility,” Rahat Khan said. “He once told me, ‘Rahat, it’s not what you have, it’s what you give.’ And he gave me his music. Now it’s up to me to give it to the people.”

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GOOD KARMA FESTIVAL with Rahat Fateh Ali Kahn, L. Subramaniam, Ustad Badar Ali Khan, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Najma and Krisna Das, Greek Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont Ave. Date: Today, 5 p.m. (Food and craft fair, 2 p.m.) Prices: $17.75-$52.75. Phone: (213) 480-3232.