![]() Pakistanis in the audience leaped out of their seats, dancing down the aisles to throw money at Khan. ![]() When the music was at its best, the effect was catharsis. Gesturing slowly and expansively with his hands, he seemed to be outlining the shapes of the sounds he made as he conducted his improvising ensemble. ![]() Khan would slowly bring the music up to a fever pitch of ecstatically repeated phrases (each, like snowflakes, slightly different from the others) and then lower the intensity for a breather before taking the wailing music up to an even higher peak. Most of these are Sufi poems renouncing the self and praising God with lines like, "Uniting with Him, I have drowned myself." From there, a rhythmic pulse began on the tabla, a reference point for the audience as Khan brought them into his web of vocal acrobatics and devotional lyrics. Each song began with a slow, quiet introductory section (or alap), a foreshadowing of the music to come.
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