Zakir Hussain

Zakir Hussain was a tabla virtuoso whose work spanned Indian classical music, world music and Western classical music. He received the Padma Shri in 1988 and the Padma Bhushan in 2002 ^[2], and was named for the Padma Vibhushan in 2023 in the field of art, from Maharashtra ^[1].

Son and student of Alla Rakha

Hussain was born on 9 March 1951 and was a child prodigy ^[2]. He was the foremost disciple of his father, the tabla maestro Ustad Alla Rakha, began his professional career at 12 accompanying India’s leading musicians and dancers, and was touring the world by 18 ^[2].

Taking the tabla everywhere

His accompaniment, solo playing and collaborations across genres raised the standing of the tabla in India and around the world ^[2]. He worked to bring north and south Indian musicians into conversation, and is seen as one of the chief builders of the contemporary world music movement ^[2]. His collaborations included Shakti and Remember Shakti, Masters of Percussion, Planet Drum and the Global Drum Project with Mickey Hart, Tabla Beat Science, and work with Charles Lloyd, Béla Fleck and Herbie Hancock ^[2].

He composed music for films and major events, and wrote three concertos; the third, the first concerto for tabla and orchestra, was premiered in India in 2015 by the Symphony Orchestra of India ^[2]. He taught as an artist in residence at Princeton and Stanford, was appointed a Regents’ Lecturer at UC Berkeley in 2015, and was resident artistic director at SFJazz from 2013 to 2016 ^[2].

Honours

He won Grammys for Planet Drum in 1992 and the Global Drum Project in 2009, and in 2022 received the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy ^[2]. He was a fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akademi ^[2].

Hussain died in a hospital in San Francisco on 15 December 2024, aged 73 ^[3].