A Sufi Supreme

AMG Review of A Sufi Supreme

Richie Unterberger
All Music Guide

When a guy has more than 100 albums, it's difficult to boil those down to a representative sampling in a mere one-disc compilation, even if that compilation packs in 74 minutes of music, as A Sufi Supreme does. On the other hand, when a guy has more than 100 albums, you can forgiven for feeling at a loss as to where to start. A Sufi Supreme seems like a reasonable point of entry, though it could be more confidently recommended if the compilers had gone to the trouble of including recording or release dates with the tracks. Even lengthy online Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan discographies, after all, don't list many of the albums from which these tracks were selected, and even the world music aficionado might not be able to tell you what range of his work this nine-track CD covers. However, it can be confidently confirmed that this does have selections from no less than eight different albums, encompassing a fair range of his qawwali music, from tracks using some modern electronic accompaniment ("Pyar Ka Diya Jalta Rahe," the dub-influenced "Jhoole Jhoole Lal (Talba Mix)") and rather light and poppy tunes ("Ag Ishq Di (Bossa Mix)") to more traditional arrangements with a devout tone ("Alif Allah Chambe Dee Booti," which lasts 14 minutes despite being an "edit"). There's also a duet with Humaira Channa, taken from the soundtrack to Bandit Queen, which is also the source of the too-brief closer "Funeral Pyres," a hauntingly sung a cappella piece.