Tabla maestro and internationally acclaimed musician Ustad Zakir Hussain, who died in a San Francisco hospital on Sunday following multiple health issues including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, blurred global boundaries with his deep knowledge of music and immaculate sense of performance. He was 73.
Zakir transcended boundaries and popularised the tabla, following the footsteps of Ustad Alla Rakha, his father and guru. He mentored and trained countless youngsters and attained at a young age, the status of India’s cultural icon joining the esteemed coterie of Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, MS Subbulakshmi and Lata Mangeshkar.
Zakir was seven when he performed at a public concert in Bombay (as the city was then known), and by age 12, the child prodigy had begun his concert tours. He studied in a Mahim Convent School and graduated from St Xavier’s College in south Mumbai.
It is said that his father would whisper various tabla beats into his son’s ears while he was asleep. As Zakir grew up, he would skip the riyaaz (practice) schedule and play gully cricket with his friends. Ustad Alla Rakha, then reprimanded his son to either choose the table or the bat, fearing that bowling would hurt his son’s fingers thereby impeding his tabla practice.
“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.
{{/usCountry}}“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.
{{/usCountry}}In a glittering career spanning six decades, Ustad Zakir Hussain performed with stalwarts such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Sultan Khan, and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma.
He also collaborated with giants across varied genres and styles, from Mickey Hart to George Harrison.
His solo performances, both in India and abroad, used to pull huge crowds and mesmerise the audience.
“Ustad Zakir Hussain would enhance the beauty of a concert with his amazing finger work. Never did he try to show off or score over the singer or instrumentalist he was accompanying. He honoured the basic rules of ‘sangat’ — accompaniment,” said Karnik.
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.
Shakti, a fusion band was flagged off by Ustad Zakir Hussain, British guitarist James McLaughlin, Indian violinist L Shankar and TH “Vikku” Vinayakram (on the ghatam) way back in 1973 when Indian music had begun to earn a wide following in the West. Shakti thus was a milestone in Ustad Zakir Hussain’s career.
McLaughlin posted a picture of himself performing with the tabla maestro on Instagram.
“The King, in whose hands Rhythm became Magic, has left us... RIP my dearest Zakir. We will meet again,” he said.
The iconic ‘Wah Taj’ tea ad featuring the maestro playing the tabla against the backdrop of the Taj Mahal became a phenomenon in the 1990s and propelled him to household fame. The voice-over in the ad, complimenting Hussain with “Wah Ustad, Wah”, became an oft used term for many an occasion, across societal and generational divides.
Karnik remembered him as humble and a warm person.
“In July 2007, I organised a concert to celebrate Ashadi Ekadashi featuring him and Suresh Wadkar, but it turned out to be one of those extremely rainy days during the Mumbai monsoon. Ustadsaab’s secretary rang me up to say he was worried whether the show would go on, and that if it did, he was willing to forego his remuneration if enough people did not turn up. He was a magnanimous man in all possible ways.”
Tabla player Aditya Kalyanpur, who was Ustad Zakir Hussain’s disciple, said he taught him “about the rhythm of life itself.”
“He taught us discipline, imparted organising skills, the sense of sound, and above all, humility and kindness,” he said.
Ustad Zakir Hussain received numerous national and international accolades.
He was voted DownBeat Critics Poll ‘Percussionist of the Year’ award for 2023 and 2024; given the Aga Khan music award in Oman in 2022; the Padma Vibhushan; the Sangeet Natak Akademi award and the fellowship as well; the United States National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage fellowship, said to be a rare honour and three Grammys at the 66th annual Grammys awards in April 2024, among numerous other honours.
Ustad Zakir Hussain also carved a niche for himself in films. He was part of films such as Apocalypse Now, Monkey Man and James Ivory-Ismail Merchant’s Heat and Dust (1983). He also teamed up with Richard Robbins to score music for the film.
A book on the tabla legend, Zakir Hussain: A Life In Music, by Nasreen Munni Kabir, chronicles the life and times of the ace musician. He is survived by his wife, Antonia Minnecola, daughters, Anisa Qureshi and Isabella Qureshi, and legions of mentees, admirers and fans.