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Photo by Susana Millman
Zakir Hussain (tabla), son of the legendary Ustad Alla Rakha, has built a reputation as one of the most formidable tabla players in Indian classical music.
Zakir Hussain began performing as a child prodigy at age 8. In constant demand as an accompanist, he has performed with most of India's greatest musicians and dancers. While he has few equals as a traditional tabla player, he has also been an innovator, bridging the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions by performing with both North and South Indian masters and presenting percussion concerts both as a soloist and with other drummers.
In addition to his dedication to the Indian classical music tradition, Zakir has been a pioneer in introducing the tabla to wider audiences in the West through his collaborations with jazz and rock musicians, and with percussionists from Latin America, Africa and Europe. As a member of the East/West fusion group Shakti, he won critical acclaim for his virtuosity.
Zakir's father, Alla Rakha passed away in February of 2000, but his legacy continues with the Masters of Percussion tours that feature Zakir and two of his brothers (Fazal and Taufiq Qureshi).
His 1986 ECM album
Making Music was a major statement in the
'world' arena, with Jan Garbarek, John McLaughlin and bansuri flute genius
Hariprasad Chaurasia as contributors.
Zakir Hussain has composed and performed music for various films. He arranged the opening music for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. In 1991, one of the projects that Zakir was involved with,
Planet Drum, received a Grammy for Best World Music album.
Hussain has also played on several ECM
discs with violinist L. Shankar-Who's
to Know,
Song for Everyone,
Nobody Told Me,
M.R.C.S., and
Pancha Nadai Pallavi.
Recently he has been playing with the
aptly-named Tabla Beat Science whose high-volume collision of cultures
incorporates an ever-shifting cast of percussionists and DJs around a core of Zakir, sarangi player Ustad
Sultan
Khan and bassist Bill Laswell. Zakir
Hussain
has also collaborated on music for ballet with Yo-Yo Ma. |
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