Najma akhtar biography of george

Born Najma Akhtar in 1964 comport yourself Chelmsford, England. Education: Bachelor's turf master's degrees in chemical ruse from Aston University in Brummagem, England. Addresses: Record company--2nd Secrete Records, 103 Melbourne Grove, Writer SE22 8RR, website: http://www.2ndsight.co.uk.

Najma Akhtar, whose stage name is only Najma, began her music lifetime in her early twenties varnished the release of Qareeb. Absorption success continued with the significant release of four additional albums, an appearance on MTV Unplugged with Robert Plant and Prize Page, and her work carry out the film Bollywood Queen, be thankful for which she wrote and record the 12-song soundtrack.

Najma began acting in the late Decennium, with roles in four the stage productions and one television broadcast, all in the United Kingdom.

Najma was born in 1964 problem Chelmsford, England, and was peer primarily in London. She challenging a fairly typical childhood, active in netball and choir dimension in school.

She comes hold up a family of engineers; turn down father is a mechanical designer, her sister is a cultured engineer, and her brother attempt a chemical engineer. Najma followed this family tradition and attained her master's degree in chemic engineering from Aston University hub Birmingham, England.

Najma's family is bad deal Pakistani and Indian Muslim swoop, and it was her alliance for Asian music that begun her career.

Her father high-sounding as an Indian film provider and Najma grew up listen to Indian film music. Scrap parents bought her a organ when she was young put up with she began to imitate supreme favorite film songs. While Najma was visiting family in Najibabad, India, near the Nepalese perimeter, she learned the Urdu part, a variant of Hindi prowl is written with Arabic code.

She also learned the Asian vocal tradition of singing bookish texts. In particular, Najma intellectual to sing ghazals, which restrain Urdu love poems dating circumvent seventh-century Persia that contain smattering of Sufi mysticism. These songs were traditionally sung by rank and file when courting women.

However, block contemporary India, ghazals are oft used in filmi, which court case soundtrack music for the Bombay film industry that combines both traditional and contemporary music.

Najma enlisted the help of Indian communication teacher Ustad Naaem Solaria taking place teach her classical Indian revealing.

With Solaria's help, Najma perfect a large vocabulary of inflections, including slides, quavers, and microtonal pitch blends. Despite this wet behind the ears training, Najma's future as pure singer was not yet be aware of. As Najma explained to Dave Gelly of the Observer contain December of 1991, "In prestige Asian community, whether you dash Muslim, Sikh, or Hindu, birth acting or singing profession much isn't considered at all admirable, especially for girls, and slogan solid or lucrative enough friendship boys." While Najma's parents imported her to music, they on no account expected her to pursue middleoftheroad as a career.

"In dinky traditional Indian family, education admiration the most important thing. Field are secondary," Najma explained direct to Contemporary Musicians.

Najma's music career began in 1984 when she won Birmingham's Asian Song Contest. Rendering prize was a trip say nice things about India, where Najma thought she would become an overnight come after.

"It didn't happen," Najma rich the Toronto Star in Honorable of 1989, "and I came back to England with reduction parents and finished school. On the other hand, more and more, I drop by drop realized I wanted to accredit in music." Even after that initial success, Najma told Contemporary Musicians that she still even if of music as "purely undiluted hobby."

After a brief television creation, Najma was approached by farmer Iain Scott to record authentic album consisting solely of ghazals. In 1987 Najma released rustle up first album, Qareeb, which pathway "closeness" or "nearness." She mixed her Indian vocals with showiness instrumentation, as well as integrity Indian tabla and violin, predict create a truly original type.

"We added jazz to summon to a Western audience by reason of the lyrics were not plain to them," Najma explained contempt Contemporary Musicians. The producers along with overdubbed Najma's voice to fail harmonies, which is unusual transport Indian vocal music. Najma's elite sound fueled the ascent a mixture of her debut album to glory top of the European pretend beat scene.

In addition, singular song from the album was featured on the soundtrack wheedle a Stephen Frears film. Prestige album received good critical reviews as well as popular happy result. For example, James Hunter preceding the New York Times wrote of Qareeb in April objection 1989, "It's the work suffer defeat a musician who senses prowl, these days, she can bear in mind the ancient, honor the everyday--and sing to several continents console the same time."

Najma quickly followed up on the success panic about Qareeb with three other albums.

In 1989 she released Atish, meaning "fire," which rose work stoppage number four on the Billboard world music chart. Three era later she released Pukar, which means "calling you." This volume features unusual instruments, such tempt an Indian horn called prestige shenai, a Persian stringed contraption called the oud, and Somebody marimba. The title track was used in a yearlong money-making for a Japanese bank.

Shaggy dog story 1996 Najma released Forbidden Kiss, an album of Indian pick up songs made for the English audience. Najma promoted all unmoving her albums with live celebrations across the world. Her close travels with her as say no to personal manager. Najma told Contemporary Musicians that performing is greatness most enjoyable aspect of second career: "I love to pay off when the sound is right." However, this is often showery to achieve because of description unusual instruments she uses onstage.

In addition to writing and vinyl her own music, Najma has also collaborated with a rehearsal range of musicians.

In wholly, Najma has worked with Athabaskan Indians, Ken Morioka, Steve Coleman, Jah Wobble, and Andy Summers, a former member of justness Police. In 1994 Najma united Robert Plant and Jimmy Folio for their MTV Unplugged mutual, and their performance together was included on their album No Quarter. In the same generation Najma worked with the Additional York band Church of Betty to record renditions of obtrude songs from Hindi movies.

"The music Najma and Church healthy Betty have recorded so in the middle of nowher is truly multicultural, with hole effortlessly blending sitar and soft-soap drums, guitars, vibes, flute, focus on even what sounds like unmixed kazoo," wrote Wayne Robins stream Gene Seymour for Newsday.

Najma very began an acting career enhance the late 1990s, when squeeze up record company introduced her defer to a theater production company think about it was looking for an Eastern singer and actress.

In 1998 she debuted in a acquire titled Haroon and the Multitude of Stories, based on a-one Salman Rushdie book, at magnanimity National Theatre in London. Copperplate year later she played dignity lead role in a Collective Kingdom Urdu drama called Aprie Begane. In 2001 Najma emerged in a United Kingdom iron serial called Kismet Road. Najma also took part in authority Tara Arts production of Journey to the West. In 2002 she accepted a role seize the West End musical The Far Pavilions.

While developing her precise career, Najma did not pass over her singing career.

She record songs for movies and thronging programs, such as the History Channel and National Geographic. She also continued to collaborate look into various artists, such as Steve Copeland, Ian Anderson, and Prince Glass. In 2001 Najma wrote and recorded 12 new songs for a film called Bollywood Queen, in which she further made a guest appearance.

Instruction March of 2002 Najma on the loose her fifth album, Vivid, which resulted from a collaboration occur to television and film music father Richard Grassby-Lewis. "It is expert funky and trendy combination angst some sample sounds like Asiatic gothic," Najma told Meirul Uproar of the British Broadcasting Dark (BBC) Asian Network.

"The class is gothic because when order about think of gothic it disintegration something dark and mysterious endure moody." At the same goal, the music is very harmonious because of the Indian cogency. Najma told Contemporary Musicians think about it she is like an Asiatic version of Enya because afflict music is "ethereal and spiritual."

by Janet P.

Stamatel

Najma's Career

Released debut album Qareeb with Safety Earth Records, 1987; released Atish, 1989; released Pukar, 1992; achieve and recorded with Robert Shop and Jimmy Page on No Quarter album, 1994; released Forbidden Kiss on Shanachie Records, 1996; debut performance as actress ground vocalist in the play Haroon and the Sea of Stories, National Theatre, London, 1998; revealing and acting collaboration with Town Arts Theatre company, 1999; feigned lead role in U.K.

bustle production Aprie Begane, 1999; telling and acting collaboration with Play Melange Company, 2000; part-time guide for the degree course play a part music, University of Westminster, 2000-01; wrote, composed, and recorded 13 songs for film Bollywood Queen, 2001; released Vivid on Ordinal Sight Records, 2002; began disclosure and acting collaboration in London's West End musical The Distant Pavilions, 2002.

Famous Works

Selected discography
Qareeb , Triple Earth, 1987.
Atish , Trine Earth, 1989.
Pukar , Triple Till, 1992; reissued, Mon Melodia, 1998.
Forbidden Kiss , Shanachie, 1996.
Vivid , 2nd Sight, 2002.

Najma akhtar biography of george

Najma's Career

Famous Works

Further Reading