NAJMA AKHTAR

QUOTES

Robert Plant had this to say about Najma, 'Najma Akhtar, who sang with us on the film, practices with this box which gives her like three notes in a different rag. And she just wails between these notes. I've spent time with her when she is just wandering around and this box is giving out these amazing tones. It's trippy like you've got the incense on, a picture of Leonard Cohen on the wall, her singing'


Ian Anderson said, 'Najma Akhtar is the premier lady Indian (Asian) singer on the planet'.


'Akhtar who sang with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page on their 1994 MTV Unledded special sounds perfectly a home in Skip James, 'Special Rider Blues',while Lucas makes the Mississippi Ghosts dance. ~ Rolling Stone - Davis Fricke's Picks


'Pukar, Najma's follow-up to her world music breakthrough 'Atish' is every bit as enchanting and splendid as its predecessor, displaying her ability to make Indian music accessible for Western audiences without diluting its essence'; ~ All Music Guide


'Forbidden Kiss is musical and cultural fusion of the first order' ~ Billboard


'The effortless artistry and emotional daring of Najma Akhtar's counter vocal on 'Evermore' easily provides No Quarter it's high point, every time she opens her mouth. ~ Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone Magazine, on Najma's duet with Robert Plant on The Battle of Evermore


Andy Summers said, ‘but finding a singer would be almost impossible. Then I was in New York and I heard a tape of Najma and I knew instantly that if I could find her, she would be the one to sing the song’.


Karl Lippegaus said, I interviewed Najma once quite extensively because I was a great fan of her breakthrough album 'Qareeb';. The record you (RISHTE) did together is an absolute masterpiece and should catapult the so-called world-music (music of the world - les musiques du monde would be a better term) to a new level.


Gary Lucas has to say.'My solo gig at Luminaire a few nights later was really fun, I got to bring my friend the wonderful British-Asian singer Najma Akhtar on stage to sing with me during 'Bra Joe from Kilimanjaro'--you may know her from her many solo albums (one of them,'Atish' on Shanachie, really helped raise my spirits during a very dark period in my life) and her work with Page and Plant (providing the female voice on their recasting of their Led Zeppelin IV anthem 'The Battle of Evermore' originally sung by the late Sandy Denny, another heroine of mine), Andy Summers, and Jah Wobble--anyway, she is simply a fantastic vocalist and presence on stage, and I hope to make more music with her in the future'.


'Qareeb is the work of a musician who senses that, these days, she can remember the ancient, honour the everyday and sing to several continents at the same time'.
The New York Times


The pure, soaring arc of Najma's voice remains beyond emulation
Neil Spencer - The Observer Review


‘I think, the secret in Najma’s success lies in her knack for creating Indian-inflected melodies tuneful and even catchy, to Western ears. Her voice too has a warmer, more intimate feel to it’. ‘This mixing up of idioms only works when it sounds completely natural’.
Dave Gelly - Sunday Observer


As for Najma, her voice is a heaven-sent gift. If she had made this album with that other noted blues aficionado, Robert Plant, it would surely sell a million and win a Grammy.
Nigel Williamson - Song Lines Magazine


Songstress is even more aware of what she wants. The result is and beguiling, pioneering seductive, topped by Najma’s chilling and sensuous vocals.
Rick Glanvill - Time Out


Atish offers another superb demonstration of Najma’s ability to fuse the modern and traditional without selling either short. A unique melange of Asian forms with jazz, rock, even country that should delight admirers and win a wider new audience.
Tradewinds


'Atish is immaculate music' ~ The Guardian


Najma’s beautiful voice sometimes double tracked, floats and swoops over arrangements and rhythms that are definitely India-meets- London 1989 in a melting pot style.
The Beat


Najma Akhtar’s crystalline, classic Indian voice spirals over a superbly negotiated blend of modern instruments
Music Week


'Najma’s music is a musical and cultural fusion of the first order'.
Billboard


‘her voice has the soprano sweetness of early Joan Baez’.
Jon Pareles - New York Times
- World Quotes

QUOTES

Robert Plant had this to say about Najma, 'Najma Akhtar, who sang with us on the film, practices with this box which gives her like three notes in a different rag. And she just wails between these notes. I've spent time with her when she is just wandering around and this box is giving out these amazing tones. It's trippy like you've got the incense on, a picture of Leonard Cohen on the wall, her singing'


Ian Anderson said, 'Najma Akhtar is the premier lady Indian (Asian) singer on the planet'.


'Akhtar who sang with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page on their 1994 MTV Unledded special sounds perfectly a home in Skip James, 'Special Rider Blues',while Lucas makes the Mississippi Ghosts dance. ~ Rolling Stone - Davis Fricke's Picks


'Pukar, Najma's follow-up to her world music breakthrough 'Atish' is every bit as enchanting and splendid as its predecessor, displaying her ability to make Indian music accessible for Western audiences without diluting its essence'; ~ All Music Guide


'Forbidden Kiss is musical and cultural fusion of the first order' ~ Billboard


'The effortless artistry and emotional daring of Najma Akhtar's counter vocal on 'Evermore' easily provides No Quarter it's high point, every time she opens her mouth. ~ Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone Magazine, on Najma's duet with Robert Plant on The Battle of Evermore


Andy Summers said, ‘but finding a singer would be almost impossible. Then I was in New York and I heard a tape of Najma and I knew instantly that if I could find her, she would be the one to sing the song’.


Karl Lippegaus said, I interviewed Najma once quite extensively because I was a great fan of her breakthrough album 'Qareeb';. The record you (RISHTE) did together is an absolute masterpiece and should catapult the so-called world-music (music of the world - les musiques du monde would be a better term) to a new level.


Gary Lucas has to say.'My solo gig at Luminaire a few nights later was really fun, I got to bring my friend the wonderful British-Asian singer Najma Akhtar on stage to sing with me during 'Bra Joe from Kilimanjaro'--you may know her from her many solo albums (one of them,'Atish' on Shanachie, really helped raise my spirits during a very dark period in my life) and her work with Page and Plant (providing the female voice on their recasting of their Led Zeppelin IV anthem 'The Battle of Evermore' originally sung by the late Sandy Denny, another heroine of mine), Andy Summers, and Jah Wobble--anyway, she is simply a fantastic vocalist and presence on stage, and I hope to make more music with her in the future'.


'Qareeb is the work of a musician who senses that, these days, she can remember the ancient, honour the everyday and sing to several continents at the same time'.
The New York Times


The pure, soaring arc of Najma's voice remains beyond emulation
Neil Spencer - The Observer Review


‘I think, the secret in Najma’s success lies in her knack for creating Indian-inflected melodies tuneful and even catchy, to Western ears. Her voice too has a warmer, more intimate feel to it’. ‘This mixing up of idioms only works when it sounds completely natural’.
Dave Gelly - Sunday Observer


As for Najma, her voice is a heaven-sent gift. If she had made this album with that other noted blues aficionado, Robert Plant, it would surely sell a million and win a Grammy.
Nigel Williamson - Song Lines Magazine


Songstress is even more aware of what she wants. The result is and beguiling, pioneering seductive, topped by Najma’s chilling and sensuous vocals.
Rick Glanvill - Time Out


Atish offers another superb demonstration of Najma’s ability to fuse the modern and traditional without selling either short. A unique melange of Asian forms with jazz, rock, even country that should delight admirers and win a wider new audience.
Tradewinds


'Atish is immaculate music' ~ The Guardian


Najma’s beautiful voice sometimes double tracked, floats and swoops over arrangements and rhythms that are definitely India-meets- London 1989 in a melting pot style.
The Beat


Najma Akhtar’s crystalline, classic Indian voice spirals over a superbly negotiated blend of modern instruments
Music Week


'Najma’s music is a musical and cultural fusion of the first order'.
Billboard


‘her voice has the soprano sweetness of early Joan Baez’.
Jon Pareles - New York Times
- World Quotes

Najma Akhtar has been in the studio working on cover songs by Tim Buckley, Tim Hardin and a song from Love's Forever Changes album called "Old Man", which was written by Bryan MacLean. Since Jac Holzman signed and recorded Love in the sixties, we thought it would be a good idea to send him "Old Man" for his feedback. Jac loved Najma's take on the song which was encouraging since she primarily sings in Urdu. We also sent "Old Man" to Diane Lee (Arthur Lee's wife). Diane loved it too and she asked if Najma would like to have the song posted on Arthur's website. Of course Najma said yes; she's very happy it's up there for Arthur Lee and Love fans to enjoy.
- TrIbute Page on Arthur Lee's

Najma Akhtar has been in the studio working on cover songs by Tim Buckley, Tim Hardin and a song from Love's Forever Changes album called "Old Man", which was written by Bryan MacLean. Since Jac Holzman signed and recorded Love in the sixties, we thought it would be a good idea to send him "Old Man" for his feedback. Jac loved Najma's take on the song which was encouraging since she primarily sings in Urdu. We also sent "Old Man" to Diane Lee (Arthur Lee's wife). Diane loved it too and she asked if Najma would like to have the song posted on Arthur's website. Of course Najma said yes; she's very happy it's up there for Arthur Lee and Love fans to enjoy.
- TrIbute Page on Arthur Lee's

Last night's utterly enchanting, mesmerising performance by Ms. Akhtar started with a ghazal, accompanying herself on harmonium and with Nishanth Rajakumar providing electronic tabla. This was followed by blues and folk songs, joined by guitarist David.

With her voice as crystal clear as ever and as sweet as to seduce angels, Najma Akhtar certainly seduced and enchanted completely. This was a performance that mesmerised utterly and just plain blew one's mind! What a delight and privilege it was to witness such a legend as Ms. Akhtar in such an intimate setting. One must await her next recording with baited breath! It is not going to be easy............................................................................................

....something very special indeed again - the legendary great pioneer of Brit Ghazal/Indo-Jazz Fusion, Najma Akhtar. Here, she was accompanied by David on guitar and Nishanth Rajakumar on percussion. With a career now spanning more than an almost unimaginable and certainly unbelievable three decades, Ms. Akhtar's first recordings go back to the 1980s. While her first outstanding album, Ghazals By Najma, goes back to 1986 and still holds up as one of the most original ghazal recordings with its full Bollywood orchestration, it is her second, Qareeb, recorded the following year, that is usually best remembered from that early period. It was here that Ms. Akhtar for the first time introduced jazz arrangements to the ghazal form, with a mix of Western and North Indian instruments and full-on vocal harmonies. Qareeb brought Ms. Akhtar into the full limelight of international audiences and the Western main stream press. And she hasn't looked back since! Besides becoming the inspiration for a new generation of composers and musicians to move into fusion, Ms. Akhtar's performance and recording credits include such greats as Nina Simone, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) and many more. Ever thirsting to experiment with new styles, Ms. Akhtar also incorporates Northern sub-continental semi-classical and folk music, sufi music, Bollywood, Asian Underground and even trance in her repertoire. The most recent adventurous and innovative additions are blues and English folk song - still the pioneer she has always been. The first of these also found expression on Najma Akhtar's collaborative album with Gary Lucas, Rishte, released in 2009 and her latest to date. This seems to have been shamefully underrated - it is a real class act and as innovative as anything - Rich Rainlore

THERE was a point half way through this gig when the bloke next to me and I shared a glance. And I mean shared because we were both registering equal amazement: this really was Najma Akhtar, singing for us in the Colston Hall foyer for free. We remember when the then young Indian singer's name had been a buzzword in late 80s UK world music circles.
Now we were enthralled by this richer, more mature voice that nevertheless had kept the exquisite sinuousness of classical Asian singing.
In this all too brief appearance with David Wilkins' electric guitar and Mike Ford's percussion Najma Akhtar conjured both a fond remembrance of her past glories and a bristling sense of the potential a full band performance might have offered.
As it was those basic elements often coalesced into something simply ravishing thanks to the perfect musical and emotional control she exerted over her vocals.

The songs were an interesting selection of classic acoustic numbers ranging from Tim Hardin and Tim Buckley to delta blues and an Irish traditional ballad but in every case Akhtar's Indian reinterpretation morphed the tunes into something exotic. Notes swerved and flattened like a sitar, while Wilkins' droning guitar caught the rhythmic underpinning of sarod against Ford's plangent tabla.
It worked brilliantly on a Tim Hardin number that stretched out into a raga-like middle section rich in Indian classical references It worked less well on the Memphis Minnie song Crying Crazy where the slide guitar felt too exposed and the gaps in the sound too big – probably reflecting the lack of her full band. Happily the last number – Black Is The Colour – gave everybody a chance to shine, clipped and punchy guitar in the Richard Thompson style slowly working up with the full-bodied tablas to an elaborated climax while Akhtar's voice grew in strength without any sign of effort. When it suddenly pulled back the impact was shocking, like a building falling down around you. Then she herself was gone, leaving us still incredulous and hoping to see her again, with full band and a much, much longer set.


- The Bristol Post and This is Somerset - Tony Benjamin

Blues-rock meets Indian modes

Although I didn’t realise it at the time, the first world music album I ever bought was a record by John Mayer and Joe Harriott’s Indo-Jazz Fusions more than 40 years ago. In the years since, John McLaughlin and others have continued to fuse jazz and Indian music in highly imaginative fashion, but there have been far fewer attempts to explore the common link between Indian music and that other great musical product of black America, the blues. Step forward the British-Asian singer Najma Akhtar and the American guitarist, Gary Lucas, formerly of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band. On his album The Edge Of Heaven, Lucas reinterpreted classic Chinese pop tunes with a bluesy edge and Akhtar has famously worked with Page and Plant, so both are used to pushing the boundaries of their default styles – which may begin to explain why their collaboration here works brilliantly. The concept is at its most obvious on Skip James’ ‘Special Rider Blues’, a magical journey from Memphis to Mumbai and back again.
Yet in many ways the rest of the material, jointly composed by Akhtar and Lucas, is even more interesting. Their guitar-vocal duets are accompanied only by tabla and, occasionally, violin. Some of it has a very 1960s hippy, free-festival feel: ‘Naya Dhin’ even reminded me improbably of early acoustic Tyrannosaurus Rex. As for Akhtar, her voice is a heaven-sent gift. If she had made this album with that other noted blues aficionado, Robert Plant, it would surely sell a million and win a Grammy.
Nigel Williamson - Songlines Magazine

Rishte is this utterly beguiling creation that just flows beautifully, like it was always meant to, like it’s something that has always existed together, despite the really unique ingredients. It’s not that they’re particularly groundbreaking, predominantly guitar and vocals, with the odd thud of tabla percussion and touch of violin, but really it’s about how they’re played, and about the two personalities behind them. First there’s Gary Lucas, the axe wielding Beefheart Magic Band alumni who co wrote the title track of Jeff Buckley’s Grace and who has critics lathering to pronounce him one of the greatest guitarist of his generation. Then there’s Najma Akhtar, a truly unique English born singer from Indian ancestry who is renowned for updating the Indian Ghazal tradition (a centuries old tradition of Urdu poetry set to music) during the 80's with a fusion of contemporary and traditional instrumentation alongside her utterly unique vocal harmonies. She has collaborated with everyone from the Basement Jaxx to Page and Plant and her vocals here are absolutely remarkable. Lucas mostly plays acoustic guitar in a rhythmic and quite blues influenced style, only using electric guitar sparingly to accent certain moments, creating a shimmering cloud of sound that echoes the pitch of and interplays with Akhtar’s remarkable vocals. Akhtar sings mostly in Urdu, in her unique style, however strays into English on the duos gorgeous cover of delta bluesman Skip James’ Special Rider Blues. This song is probably the most overt example of what’s going on here, an Indian voiced fusion with the American blues. It’s incredibly successful, the duo constructing this fascinating beguiling world, Akhtar’s vocal harmonies quite complex and unexpected over Lucas’ more Western influenced playing. In keeping with this idea of a new world the duo have pretty much created a new genre and the the album retains a relative uniformity across the tracks. Yet this is not a problem, Rishte is the kind of album you just put on and let the whole album wash over you again and again.

If you’re interested there’s a fascinating podcast of the duo playing live and being interviewed on WNYC radio in New York about a week ago, which gives some great contextual information about their respective pasts, though also about how they approached the collaboration.

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/newsounds/episodes/2009/06/08


Bob Baker Fish - CYCLIC DEFROST

NAJMA AKHTAR AND GARY LUCAS - RISHTE

THEY BOTH POSSESS IMPRESSIVE CVS WHEN IT COMES TO COLLABORATIONS, AND THIS CHARMING, ELOQUENT MIX OF INDIAN AND US ROOTS MUSIC WILL SURELY TAKE ITS PLACE AMONGST THE MOST SATISFYINGLY CREATIVE RESULTS FOR BOTH ARTISTS - GLOBAL MUSIC CULTURE