Ustad Zakir Hussain: How he popularised tabla and transcended musical boundaries
Hindustan TimesTabla maestro and internationally acclaimed musician Ustad Zakir Hussain, who passed away in a San Francisco hospital on Sunday following multiple health issues, blurred global boundaries with his deep knowledge of music and immaculate sense of performance. The eldest son of Ustad Allah Rakha, Ustad Zakir Hussain was seven when he performed at a public concert in Bombay, and by age 12, the child prodigy had begun his concert tours. “It was the nation’s good fortune that Zakirbhai chose the tabla,” said Mandar Karnik, a tabla player and an ardent admirer of Ustad Zakir Hussain. In a glittering career spanning six decades, Ustad Zakir Hussain performed with stalwarts such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Shehanai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Sultan Khan and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Ustad Zakir Hussain teamed up with the world’s top artists to experiment with sound and rhythm, thus bringing the world closer to India’s rich musical tradition, experts said.