Nightlife: Italian producer Gaudi brings Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's vocals back to life

Gaudi received blessings from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's fam...

There was one major side effect that Italian music producer Gaudi wasn't warned about when he agreed two years ago to resurrect the vocals of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: a chronic case of goose bumps.

"I had goose bumps for two straight years. It was so intense," says the 44-year-old Bologna-born, London-based producer who is most recognized for his reggae dub records.

"Dub Qawwali," the Six Degrees Records album he produced, will have its official release party tonight at Nickies in San Francisco. Gaudi, however, will be in London and cannot attend the party.

The album blends Jamaican dub beats with layers of both electronic and organic instruments while weaving in the philosophical vocals of Khan, the Pakistani musicologist who passed away 10 years ago.

Shortly after Gaudi released a Bob Marley remix, Khan's record label asked Gaudi and five other producers to remix songs by the Sufi singer, who had been lionized by the likes of Eddie Vedder, Jeff Buckley and Peter Gabriel.

The label loved Gaudi's Khan remix so much, they gave him full access to the singer's back catalog stretching to 1968.

Known for his Sufism-rooted vocals captured in songs that can last upward of 25 minutes, Khan is revered in Pakistan much the way Marley is in Jamaica. And it's no coincidence, according to Gaudi.

"The first thing that came across to me was how Bob Marley and Nusrat had the same message," says Gaudi, who discovered the Pakistani singer's music in the early '80s but never saw him perform. "Sufis are about peace, love, tolerance and understanding and spirituality, which is exactly the red, gold and green message of Jamaican reggae."

Gaudi described Khan's naked vocals as a "hypnotic mantra" that fused well with the equally entrancing principles of dub music's deep drum and bass. To stay true to Khan's lyrical messages, Gaudi hired a Punjabi translator. And, just in case, Gaudi received blessings from Khan's family for each song before sending the material on to Six Degrees.

A tour of Pakistan and India is in the works, as well as a visit to the Bay Area, and Gaudi plans to perform "Dub Qawwali" with live musicians and Khan's recorded vocals. But that probably won't happen until next year, as Gaudi will be busy changing diapers; his first child, a daughter, is due any day now.

Gaudi won't say what his favorite new track is. But he admits to being especially inspired by "Dil Da Rog Muka Ja Mahi," which accidentally drew in the bass line from the Kraftwerk classic "The Model."

"They are apparently three worlds that are not connected - Sufism, reggae and German electronic music - and done by an Italian. That sounds strange," says Gaudi. "On the other hand, we're all citizens of the world. Music is one big beautiful thing you can play with. Human beings give music tags. This is rock. This is reggae. This is house music. This is whatever. For me, music is one."

Delfin Vigil