Nusrat was variously called the Pavarotti of the East...the Voice of Ecstasy...the Messenger of Peace...the Singing Buddha....The Magnificent. Beyond question the finest Sufi devotional singer of the 20th century, he was one of the most unique and unforgettable voices of our time. His career began its global ascendancy in the late ?80s when he recorded his best-known works for Peter Gabriel?s Real World label ? and his output from that era was prolific, and remained so until his untimely death in 1997.

But the astounding voice did not emerge from nowhere, and these newly-unearthed archival recordings celebrate the extraordinary singer?s early mastery, rarely heard and until now nearly impossible to find. Essential to the completist collection, these rare tracks ? recorded between 1978 and 1982 ? reveal the youthful Nusrat, already attaining incredible artistic heights with his characteristic innovation and poignancy.