Indian musicians pay tribute to tabla icon Zakir Hussain

RNZ News

5 days ago

Tabla musician Fazal Qureshi
Photo:
Supplied/Manjit Singh
Hundreds attended a tribute concert at Auckland's Mangere Arts Centre last weekend in memory of renowned Indian tabla player and multiple Grammy award-winner Zakir Hussain.
Hussain died in the United States
in December last year
at 73.
The highlight of the evening in Auckland was a performance by Indian tabla player Fazal Qureshi, who is Hussain younger brother.
Qureshi was joined by Indian classical singer Ustad Dilshad Khan.
The concert was organised by Auckland-based Indian tabla player Manjit Singh, who also performed during the evening with singer Daljeet Kaur and members of Takadimi, an Indo-jazz fusion band.
Hussain visited New Zealand in June 2024, performing in Auckland and Christchurch as part of the
Triveni concert tour
.
During his performance, Hussain was accompanied by violinist Kala Ramnath and Jayanthi Kumaresh, who plays the Saraswati veena.
Qureshi spoke with
RNZ's Bryan Crump
prior to the concert in Auckland last week.
Qureshi discussed his family's legacy of tabla players, which starting with his father, Ustad Alla Rakha, whom
The New York Times
described as "the most important tabla drummer of his generation".
He educated listeners on the technicalities of Indian percussion instruments and their rhythms.
During the conversation, Qureshi fondly recalled growing up in a household where his father and two of his siblings were tabla players.
"It was very hard for our mother to be surrounded by so much drumming," Qureshi said.
On Hussain's enduring legacy, Qureshi noted it was "still difficult to accept [Zakir] is no more".
Local musicians in New Zealand were
shocked
to learn about Hussain's death last year.
"That's why one of my students, Manjit Singh, decided to organise this concert as a tribute to Zakir Hussain," Qureshi said.
Hussain was widely regarded as one of the greatest ever tabla players, introducing the percussion instrument to global audiences in a career that spanned six decades.
Born in Mumbai in 1951, Hussain became the first Indian musician to win three Grammy awards in the same year.
Hussain's musical collaborations ranged from Indian icons such as Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan and Shivkumar Sharma to Western musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Charles Lloyd, Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Mickey Hart, George Harrison and John McLaughlin.
Qureshi, who is 10 years younger than Hussain, carried the familial tabla tradition while experimenting with other styles of music such as jazz.
His Sweden-based group, Mynta, has been performing all over the world at various jazz and world music festivals.
Qureshi now spearheads the Mumbai-based Ustad Allarakha Institute of Music that was started by his father.
"My guru [Qureshi] feels very humbled and honoured to be chosen [by Hussain] as the khalifa (torch bearer) of the Punjab Gharana (a school of music) of tabla players," Manjit Singh said.
"In a small way, we were able to honour the legacy of ustad (teacher) Zakir Hussain in front of almost 270 people. It was heartening to hear [Hussain's] life story from his brother as part of the evening.
"The event was a memorable celebration of Indian rhythm, melody and culture as we paid tribute to one of the most-revered musicians of our time."