Zakir Hussain: A lifetime of spelling magic with fingers

Zakir Hussain. Pic credit/ PTI

THOSE magical fingers inspired thousands of young Indians to take up the tabla, and his brilliance and stage persona made him a favourite among serious listeners. For years, Ustad Zakir Hussain remained not only one of the most popular artistes of his generation, but also an ambassador of Indian music on the global arena.

Hussain, who passed away at 73 in San Francisco due to complications arising out of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, leaves behind a rich and magnificent legacy, and an ocean of memories. Whether one knew him personally, saw him in concert or just listened to his recordings, there was something special about the maestro. It wasn't only in the music, but also the way he conducted himself, greeting everyone warmly irrespective of their age or status. His bouncing hair, sartorial sense and quick wit added to the aura, and his appearance in the Taj Mahal tea ad campaign made him a household name.

The son of tabla legend Ustad Allarakha, Hussain represented the Punjab gharana of tabla-playing. He was born in Mumbai on March 9, 1951, and would accompany his father to concerts from a very young age. A child prodigy, he started touring when he was 12. While he initially focused on classical music, he was exposed to international sounds on his visits to the US in the late 1960s. His meeting with British guitarist John McLaughlin, violinist L. Shankar and ghatam exponent Vikku Vinayakram led to the formation of the Indo-fusion group Shakti, and he also recorded with George Harrison in the 1973 album Living In The Material World.
Known to maintain a balance between traditional music and experimentation, Hussain has accompanied the who's who of Indian classical music over the past five decades. The list includes sitar legends Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan, sarod masters Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, santoor monarch Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and vocalists Pandit Jasraj and Kishori Amonkar. He also played with Kathak doyen Pandit Birju Maharaj and thumri queen Shobha Gurtu.

Hussain's friendship with McLaughlin has lasted over 55 years. "Meeting John Ji was a pivotal moment. It was indeed the time everything changed going forward for me," he told this writer in an interview. The two have been together over changing Shakti line-ups, besides collaborating on other albums like Making Music, also featuring Chaurasia and saxophonist Jan Garbarek. Earlier this year, the Shakti album This Moment picked up the Grammy award for Best Global Music Album, and Hussain himself won Grammys for the album As We Speak, featuring banjo player Bela Fleck, bassist Edgar Meyer and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia.

Other international musicians to have partnered with Hussain include drummer Mickey Hart, saxophonists Charles Lloyd, Chris Potter and George Brooks, and bassist Dave Holland. He has also composed two concertos for the Symphony Orchestra of India - a tabla concerto and a triple concerti for tabla, sitar and flute. Another pet project was Tabla Beat Science with producer Bill Laswell, where he blended electronic flavours with tabla rhythms. He's acted in James Ivory's film Heat And Dust (1983) and Sai Paranjpye's Saaz (1987), besides composing music for Aparna Sen's Mr And Mrs Iyer in 2002.

Though Hussain grew up in an era which had other great tabla players like Anindo Chatterjee, Swapan Chaudhuri, Kumar Bose and the late Shafaat Ahmed Khan, he created new audiences through his innovations and collaborations. Each year, he has given many memorable concerts in Mumbai. His appearances at the Homage to Abbaji show on February 3, the Jennifer Kapoor Birthday Concert on February 28 and the Gurupoornima event have been cherished by fans. As Hussain's music will live on forever, his warmth and charm will be missed by all those whose lives he touched.

Hussain is survived by his wife Antonia Minnecola, and daughters Anisa and Isabella Qureshi. His brothers Fazal Qureshi, who trains tabla students at the Allarakha Institute of Music in Mumbai, and Taufiq, who has mastered the djembe, carry the family tradition forward.