Zakir Hussain (musician)


Ustad Zakir Hussain is an Indian tabla virtuoso, composer, percussionist, music producer, film actor and eldest son of legendary tabla player Ustad Allah Rakha.
He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1988, and the Padma Bhushan in 2002, by the Government of India presented by President Abdul Kalam. He was also awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1990, given by the Sangeet Natak Academy, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. In 1999, he was awarded the United States National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship, the highest award given to traditional artists & musicians.

Early life and education

Zakir Hussain was born on Friday, March 9, 1951 in a nursing home in Mahim at about 11:00 a.m Hussain was born to tabla maestro Alla Rakha. His mother's name was Bavi Begum. It was said that Hussain was an 'unlucky' child since his father was extremely ill around the time of his birth. Although their family name is Qureshi, Zakir was given the surname Hussain. He attended St. Michael's High School in Mahim, and briefly attended St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.
Hussain was a child prodigy. His father taught him Pakhawaj from the age of 3 years. His father would wake him up at 3 a.m. and would teach him vocally by reciting different rhythms till 6 a.m. Zakir's father Alla Rakha belonged to the tradition of tabla-playing known as the Punjab baaj style, the others being Delhi, Benares, Ajrara, Farrukhabad, and Lucknow.
He gave his first concert at the age of seven and was deemed a child prodigy. He was touring by the age of eleven. He went to the United States in 1970 to accompany sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. After the tour was complete, Ravi Shankar advised Zakir to stay in America and take a teaching job at the University of Washington in the Department of Ethnomusicology. He planned to study for a PhD but midway he moved to the Bay Area to accompany Ali Akbar Khan who was in need of a tabla player. After that he began his international career, including more than 150 concert dates a year.

His career

From a young age, Zakir has been accompanying all the leading lights of Hindustani classical music, both vocal and instrumental - from Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pandit VG Jog, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj, and many more.
In addition to being an outstanding accompanist, Zakir brought great attention to and raised the profile of tabla players, both through his solo excursions as an accompanist and through his solo tabla performances. His on-stage charm and virtuosity single-handedly raised the visibility of tabla players, who in times past were not considered very important to the performance. Zakir made stars out of tabla players, and a whole generation of young tabla players grew up imitating his head gestures and even his hair style while performing. It is fair to say that, with the advent of Zakir Hussain, there was finally an audience in a Hindustani concert that came not just to listen to the main melody artist but to the supporting tabla artist.
Zakir's fame spread internationally following many tour performances in the US and Europe. He also collaborated with many musicians from all over India and the world. He collaborated with violinist L. Shankar, guitarist John McLaughlin, mridangam player Ramnad Raghavan, and legendary ghatam player Vikku Vinayakram in forming the fusion group Shakti, which performed worldwide to great acclaim. Twenty years later, a second version of the Shakti group, called Remember Shakti, was created featuring U. Srinivas, Zakir Hussain, TV Selvaganesh, and Shankar Mahadevan.
Hussain played on George Harrison's 1973 album Living in the Material World and John Handy's 1973 album Hard Work. He also performed on Van Morrison's 1979 album Into the Music and Earth, Wind & Fire's 1983 album Powerlight.
Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead, who had known Zakir since the 1960s, invited him to create the special album Planet Drum, featuring legendary drummers from different parts of the world. Featured along with Zakir, from India, was Vikku Vinayakram, with whom Zakir had collaborated in Shakti. The first Planet Drum album, released in 1991 on the Rykodisc label, went on to earn the 1992 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album, the first Grammy ever awarded in this category. The Global Drum Project album and tour brought Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo together again in a reunion sparked by the 15th anniversary of the ground-breaking album Planet Drum. The album Global Drum Project won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 51st Grammy Awards Ceremony held on 8 February 2009.)
Zakir composed, performed and acted as Indian music advisor for the Malayalam film Vanaprastham, a 1999 Cannes Film Festival entry which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival in 1999, and won awards at 2000 Istanbul International Film Festival, 2000 Mumbai International Film Festival, and 2000 National Film Awards. He has composed soundtracks for several movies, most notably In Custody and The Mystic Masseur by Ismail Merchant, and has played tabla on the soundtracks of Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now, Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha, and other films.
He starred in several films specifically showcasing his musical performance both solo and with different bands, including the 1998 documentary "Zakir and His Friends", and the documentary "The Speaking Hand: Zakir Hussain and the Art of the Indian Drum"
Hussain is a founding member of Bill Laswell's 'World Music Supergroup' Tabla Beat Science.
In 2016, Zakir Hussain was amongst many musicians invited by President Obama to the International Jazz Day 2016 All-Star Global Concert at the White House.
Haridas Vhatkar has been making Zakir's tabla's for the past 18+ years. Haridas said he learned how to make tabla so he could specially make them for Zakir.
Zakir has stated that he doesn't play at private gatherings, corporate events, or weddings; he believes music should not be heard at events where folks come to socialize, drink or enjoy a meal.

Book

compiled 15 interview sessions from 2016-2017 into the book Zakir Hussain: A Life in Music, which was published in 2018. This book takes the reader through Zakir's life from his childhood, his years of intense training, and growth to fame as a renowned musician.

Personal life

Zakir Hussain married Antonia Minnecola, a Kathak dancer and teacher, who is also his manager. They have two daughters, Anisa Qureshi and Isabella Qureshi. Anisa graduated from UCLA and is trying her hand in video production and film making. Isabella is studying dance in Manhattan.
Zakir Hussain has two brothers: Ustad Taufiq Qureshi, a percussionist and Ustad Fazal Qureshi, also a tabla player. Their brother Munawar died at a young age when he was attacked by a rabid dog. His eldest sister Bilquis died before Zakir was born. His sister Razia died due to complications during a cataract surgery. He has another sister Khurshid.
He was named an Old Dominion Fellow by the Humanities Council at Princeton University, where he resided for the 2005–2006 semester as full professor in the music department. He was also a visiting professor at Stanford University. He now resides in San Francisco.

Discography