Najma Akhtar
| Najma Akhtar | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Najma |
| Born | 18 September 1962 Chelmsford, England |
Najma Akhtar also known as Najma (born 18 September 1962)[1] is a British singer of Indian[2] ancestry. She was born in Chelmsford, England.[3][4]
Najma studied chemical engineering at Aston University, Birmingham: her father, brother and sister are also engineers.[3] In 1984 she won the Birmingham Asian Song Contest, and in 1987 produced her first album.[3]
Her unique and distinctive styles range from fusions of jazz with the Indian ghazal, doing updated arrangements of these ghazals (love songs and spiritual songs), along with traditional bhajans, Indian Semi Classical vocals and the occasional Bollywood hit.[citation needed]
She has also appeared as a performer in the songs and videos of other performers, such as jazz and rock saxophonist Stan Harrison.[5] Najma has also worked with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page on the No Quarter DVD.
Discography[]
- Qareeb, 1987
- Ghazals, 1988
- Atish, 1990
- Pukar, 1992
- Forbidden Kiss: the Songs of S. D. Burman, 1996
- Vivid, 2002
- Fariyaad: A plea to the creator, 2008
- Rishte, 2009
- Five Rivers, 2020
Notable Collaborations[]
- with Jah Wobble on his album Take Me to God
- with Andy Summers on his album The Golden Wire
- with Steve Coleman on his albums Black Science and A Tale of 3 Cities
- with Ken Morioka on his album in Japan titled Question
- with Apache Indian on his hit single titled Arranged Marriage
- with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (both formerly of Led Zeppelin) on the track "The Battle of Evermore" from their album No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded
- with Jethro Tull on the title track from the album J-Tull Dot Com
- with La Cucina (band) on their album Bloom
- with on their track Harold and their Stuff remix. She is also sampled in the song "Flight Four: India" off the album British Summer Time
Notes[]
- ^ "Najma". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
- ^ "Pakistan's non-resident nightingale". Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c www.musicianguide.com Najma Biography
- ^ "Who is Najma, and what did she contribute to music?". eNotes. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-21. Retrieved 2009-06-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links[]
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- English female singers
- Living people
- 1962 births
- People from Chelmsford
- Musicians from Essex
- English people of Indian descent
- British singer stubs