Ustad Zakir Hussain : Making magic with rhythm

Zakir Hussain, a tabla virtuoso, brought Indian classical music to the global stage, blending traditions with global influences to create masterpieces that transcend language and culture. His performa

Dec 18, 2024, 16:34 IST3 min

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A file photo of Indian tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain performing at a concert at the Indian Music Experience, India"s first interactive music museum in Bengaluru 2019. The tabla"s greatest player, whose prolific work as a musician, mentor and educator left an indelible mark on countless rasiks (fans), died in San Francisco on Monday.

Image by Manjunath Kiran / AFP

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Zakir Hussain (right) and his brother Fazal Qureshi pay tribute to their father, Ustad Allarakha, on the eve of Guru Purnima in Mumbai on July 22, 2013. Trained by his father, Hussain, as a two-year-old toddler, would clap the 10-beat cycle and recite the "bol". He played his first public concert when he was seven.

Image by AFP

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Zakir Hussain and Ustad Shujat Khan on sitar during a special concert titled "Homage to Abbaji", a musical extravaganza on the 16th death anniversary of Ustad Allarakha at Shanmukhananda Hall, Mumbai, on February 3, 2016. "My father would seek the blessings of the pandit and the maulana in the mornings", recalled Hussain to an audience.

Image by Kunal Patil/HT via Getty Images

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Zakir Hussain (extreme right) performs with Shakti at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on July 06, 1976. Hussain was part of the famous fusion quartet Shakti, along with John McLaughlin, Vikku Vinayakram, and L Shankar, in the 70s, which redefined fusion music.

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The front and back cover of Natural Elements, a fusion album by Shakti released in 1977. Hussain, who studied at St. Michael"s School, Mahim moved to San Francisco when he was 20 and taught at Ali Akbar Khan"s music college in San Rafael when Shakti happened.

Image by Forbes

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Zakir Hussain performs during a "Living Dream" music concert to honour Martin Luther King Jr"s visit to India in New Delhi on February 16, 2009.

Image by Manan Vatsyayana / AFP

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Indian Bollywood playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and Zakir Hussain greet each other during the "72nd Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Awards" in Mumbai on late April 24, 2014. In the mid-sixties, Zakir played tabla as a sessions artiste for film composers like Madan Mohan and SD Burman. He would go on to score music for many movies, like Sai Paranjpe"s Saaz, Aparna Sen"s Mr & Mrs Iyer and many

Image by STRDEL / AFP

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Tineke Posma (left), Wayne Shorter (right), and Zakir Hussain perform a United Nations Sunset Concert on International Jazz Day at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz on April 30, 2012, in New York City. An indefatigable performer, Hussain jammed with international jazz musicians through the decades, virtually living on an aeroplane at times.

Image by Thos Robinson/WireImage / Getty

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Satyasheel Deshpande, Satish Vyas, Suhas Vyas, Zakir Hussain, Chaitanya Swami and Yashwant Mahale at the book launch of the second edition of Raag Sarita, a compilation of compositions by Indian classical vocalist Pandit CR Vyas, at SM Joshi Hall, Navipeth, on February 9, 2019 in Pune, India.

Image by Rahul Raut/HT via Getty Images

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Ustad Zakir Hussain with his daughter Anisa Qureshi at her wedding reception in Mumbai on December 30, 2010. Hussain leaves behind his wife Antonia Minnecola, a Kathak dancer whom he married in the 1970s and his two daughters.

Image by Yogen Shah/The India Today Group via Getty Images