Tabla falls silent
If Ustad Zakir Hussain could not imagine his existence without the tabla, music lovers too could not see the percussion instrument without the great exponent appearing on their mindscape. Rarely does it happen in musical history that an instrument becomes synonymous with a person. As the legendary percussionist, composer and occasional actor passed away at 73, for millions of his fans the sound of tabla fell silent.
Most celebrated ambassador of Indian classical music, Zakir blended tradition with contemporary sounds effortlessly as he whipped up magic on tabla
‘Played hundreds of concerts together’
Sitarist Shujaat Husain Khan, son and disciple of the great sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan, remembers Ustad Zakir Hussain as ‘bade bhai’. “My association with him is very deep and old. Zakir bhai played for my first album back in 1978. After that, we played in hundreds of concerts together. It was as if we were in a whole different world altogether. There are so many things one can learn from his life — his dedication and his will to spread music and become a better musician.”
Born on March 9, 1951, in Mumbai, this son of legendary musician Alla Rakha, himself a tabla virtuoso, was exposed to a rich musical environment at an early age. By age three, he became aware of rhythmic patterns, and by seven, he was part of school concerts.
The world beckoned when a performance at age 19 with sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar in New York paved the way for an illustrious career. In his six-decade-long career, he not only put tabla on the global stage and won the West with his dexterous command over his chosen instrument, especially his trademark tihais, but also had jam sessions with the best global musicians. As recent as this year, he won three Grammys at its 66th edition. Back in time, he came together with George Harrison and in 1970s formed the Shakti band with legendary guitarist John McLaughlin, violinist L Shankar and percussionist TH ‘Vikku’ Vinayakram. More recently, he collaborated with Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer wherein banjo, bass and tabla began to speak to each other and their album, ‘As We Speak’, won a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category. Honours and awards were not new to him. If he won four Grammys, including one in 1991 with Mickey Hart for the album, ‘Planet Drum’, he was feted with the second highest civilian honour of India Padma Vibhushan. Most visible, celebrated and admired ambassador of Indian classical music which he popularised in India and beyond, he became a bridge between tradition and contemporary sounds, blending both effortlessly. In his hands, fusion was never confusion but a melodious confluence, transcending cultures, continents, genres. If he whipped up magic on tabla, his aura was no less charismatic. In 1994, he was voted the “sexiest man” by readers of the magazine “Gentleman”. Ever versatile, he even composed for many films, including Merchant-Ivory’s ‘Heat and Dust’, ‘In Custody’, ‘The Mystic Masseur’, ‘Vanaprastham’, ‘Everybody Says I’m Fine’ and ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’. He acted in movies like the ‘Perfect Murder’, ‘Saaz’, lately in 2024 in ‘Monkey Man’.
Survived by his wife Antonia Minnecola, a kathak exponent, and two daughters, Anisa Qureshi and Isabella Qureshi, his legacy lives on but the sound of music he created will never be the same again. “Without love, music and harmony we are nothing,” he said during his Grammy acceptance speech.
