Quick Facts
Biography
Najma Akhtar born in the UK, also known as Najma, is a British singer of Indian ancestry. She was born in 1964 Chelmsford, England.
Najma studied chemical engineering at Aston University, Birmingham: her father, brother and sister are also engineers. In 1984 she won the Birmingham Asian Song Contest, and in 1987 produced her first album.
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.
She has also appeared as a performer in the songs and videos of other performers, such as jazz and rock saxophonist Stan Harrison. Najma has also worked with saxophonist/flautist Michael J. Parlett, and with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page on the No Quarter DVD..
Discography
- Ghazals, 1988
- Qareeb, 1989
- Atish, 1990
- Pukar, 1992
- Forbidden Kiss: the Songs of S. D. Burman, 1996
- Vivid, 2002.
- Fariyaad: A plea to the creator, 2008.
- Rishte, 2009.
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 on their album Bloom
- with Sundae Club on their track Harold and their Stuff remix. She is also sampled in the song "Flight Four: India" off the album British Summer Time