Najma Akhtar

Najma Akhtar also known as Najma (born 18 September 1962) is a British singer of Indian ancestry. She was born in 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.