Indian tabala virtuoso Ustad Zakir Hussain performs at a live performance on the Indian Music Experience (IME), Indias first interactive music museum, in Bangalore on July 27, 2019.
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Manjunath Kiran/AFP by way of Getty Images
Indian tabla participant Zakir Hussain — who united musicians from various cultures and by doing so, formed trendy world music — died on Sunday in San Francisco. He was 73.
In a press release, his household stated the reason for demise was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
“His prolific work as a trainer, mentor and educator has left an indelible mark on numerous musicians. He hoped to encourage the subsequent technology to go additional. He leaves behind an unparalleled legacy as a cultural ambassador and one of many best musicians of all time,” his household added.
Hussain’s profession spanned over 5 many years, throughout which he was revered as each a nationwide treasure in India and admired worldwide.
He defied genres and collaborated with a formidable vary of musicians, together with jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd, bluegrass artists Edgar Meyer and Béla Fleck, in addition to rockstars George Harrison and Van Morrison. His versatility earned him the uncommon distinction of performing twice on NPR’s Tiny Desk — as soon as in 2010 after which in 2023.
“You know, you come from India and also you say, ‘OK, I’m representing a 3,000-year-old historical past,’ so that you suppose you are gonna educate the world about rhythms and drums and so forth,” he instructed NPR in 2015. “And then you definitely arrive right here. You all of the sudden understand that you already know nothing. You’re only one little dot within the portray that’s the music of the universe.”
Beyond his performances, Hussain was admired for his ardour to instructing Indian drumming, additional spreading appreciation for the artwork kind.
Hussain typically stated that his musical journey started quickly after he was born in Bombay. In the 2015 NPR interview, he recalled a convention the place a father whispers a prayer into his new child son’s ear. Instead, his father selected to sing him rhythms.
“My mom was very upset and stated, ‘Why are you doing this?’ And he stated, ‘Because this is my prayer,'” Hussain stated.
He instructed NPR that it was his father’s dream for him to hold on the custom of being an Indian classical musician. His father, Alla Rakha, was thought of one of many world’s best participant’s of tabla, a centuries-old Indian hand drum. His father taught Hussain play the tabla when he was 7 years previous.
But his father additionally launched Hussain to music from world wide, which is how Hussain fell in love with rock and Western music.
“I used to be the one child on the block who was strolling down the road with a boombox on my shoulder, enjoying as loud as I might ‘Light My Fire,'” Hussain recalled.
In 1970, at 19, Hussain traveled to the U.S. the place he spent the next years working with rockstars like George Harrison, Van Morrison and Mickey Hart, the drummer from The Grateful Dead. He additionally performed with jazz musician John Handy.
In 1973, Hussain fashioned the Indian jazz fusion band Shakti with jazz guitarist John McLaughlin. With its melodic and rhythm devices, the band helped American listeners respect sounds and devices past Western music.
Guitarist John McLaughlin (L) and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain hearken to a journalist’s query upon arrival at their lodge in Bangalore, India, on Jan. 30, 2003.
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In 2024, Hussain grew to become the primary musician from India to obtain three Grammy awards in the identical 12 months after Shakti gained Best Global Music Album, and Hussain’s collaboration with Edgar Meyer and Béla Fleck that includes Rakesh Chaurasia gained Best Global Music Performance and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.
Hussain instructed NPR in 2015 that all through the course of his profession, he has discovered similarities between rhythmists world wide — no matter strategy or fashion.
“We had been all on the identical wavelength, the identical quest, in search of perfection, which we are going to by no means discover. But that did not matter as a result of it is all in regards to the journey — not the aim,” he stated.
NPR’s Felix Contreras contributed reporting.
