Watch: Faiz Ali Faiz live at Le Guess Who? 2023

Recordings

Pakistani singer Faiz Ali Faiz gave a spectacular performance as one of the closing acts of Le Guess Who? 2023. You can now relive this glorious moment with our concert film, as well as the full audio of the show.

"Another kind of passion was found in the lovely old Vredenburg hall with the transcendent qawwali of Faiz Ali Faiz and his party of singers. Faiz Ali Faiz’s moral and spiritual authority was clear; this was a voice that channelled and commanded, and we listened. The main side singer gainfully tried to match Faiz’s majestic delivery with a heartfelt alto. Soon, the switches between the two – through ghazals, marsiyas and kafis – became mesmerising. Forgive such a base thought, but the twin vocal attack was akin, at times, to having Robert Plant and Ozzy Osbourne having a howl-off. The last song, an improvised sargam ecstatically driven by tabla, hand claps and the harmoniums, turned out to be vaguely familiar; was it a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan hit? It surely was. The place went respectfully berserk. Wonderful." - Louder Than War

About
Having been born to seven consecutive generations of qawwals (those who perform the ancient form of religious Sufi music from Pakistan and Northern India - Punjab - known as qawwali), Pakistani singer Faiz Ali Faiz was raised on the practice. His illustrious predecessor Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, whose rich timbre Faiz now recalls, made qawwali known to the rest of the world. Now, that mission is continued by the newer vocalist, whose ample range, spirited singing, and large personality as a soloist on the stage has made him a qawwali sensation, introducing many around the world to this sacred form of music practice.

"He was born in Lahore, Pakistan into generations of singers, and says, “I couldn’t stop myself from singing as a child, it was just inside me. Just like the milk you drink and the blood in your body affects you, my family background affected me.” Even as we speak on the phone, music pours out of him." - Arooj Aftab

Le Guess Who? Recordings

The publication of this recording is part of Le Guess Who?’s ongoing expansion of the festival’s recordings archive, with 100+ recordings from past editions now freely available online.

This archive contains audio and/or video recordings of performances by African Head Charge, SANAM, Alan Sparhawk, Stereolab, Tom Skinner, Selda Bağcan, clipping., Aldous Harding, Deerhunter, Art Ensemble of Chicago, The Microphones, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Lightning Bolt, Neneh Cherry, Arooj Aftab, and Beverly Glenn-Copeland, as well as special collaborations and one-time performances such as Saul Williams & King Britt present Unanimous Goldmine, and AEAEA, the live premiere of a collaboration between Nicolas Jaar and Patrick Higgins.

Captured at TivoliVredenburg’s Grote Zaal on Sunday, 12 November 2023.

Faiz Ali Faiz - Lead Singer
Karamat Ali Asad - Vocals & Harmonium
Ali Shahbaz - Vocals & Harmonium
Nazar Abbas - Support Vocals
Sabir Ali - Tabla
Mudasar Munir - Chorus
Waheed Ahmed - Chorus
Azam Ali - Chorus

Direction: Dammes Kieft
Camera: Anaïs Saebu, Chris Groos, Jonathan Sipkema, Nicky Pajkić, Rikash Gobardhan, Yuma Eekman, Dammes Kieft
Production: Studio Dammes, Ramon de Lima
Montage & Grade: Jonathan Sipkema
Sound recording: Marc Broer
Photography: Maarten Mooijman