Today is March 9th, and it's Ustad Zakir Hussain’s birthday. I thought that this might be a good time for me to share a little about what Zakir ji has meant to me over the years for the benefit of my students.
No tabla player my age growing up outside India could ever claim not to be heavily influenced by Zakir Hussain. His immense popularity, owing to his comsummate artistry and musicality, meant that I listened to a lot of his music during my formative years. The first exposure I can remember with certainty was from a compilation CD, “Ravi Shankar Presents the Master Drummers of India.” Featured on that CD was an explosive ten-minute Jhaptal solo by a very young and fearless Zakir Hussain. That solo represented to me everything that made Tabla special, and I listened to it over and over. Later I bought a CD called “Selects,” which I still think is one of the finest collection of tabla recordings ever made (his peshkar on that CD is perhaps one of the finest works of art a Tabla player has ever produced). Remember that this was before Youtube! Thanks to Youtube, nowadays you can listen to and watch countless hours of live performances by Zakir ji and many other Tabla players, but at this time it was harder to find recordings of Tabla. Speaking of which, Zakir ji was also the first Tabla player I ever saw live when he performed with his Masters of Percussion in 2003. I remember being both spellbound and utterly mystified by what was taking place onstage! It would be years before I learned enough to put what I heard into context.
Ustad Zakir Hussain with his father, Ustad Alla Rakha
Zakir ji’s father, the great Ustad Alla Rakha, shaped the sound of Tabla more than any other Tabla player apart from Ustad Ahmedjaan Thirakwa in my opinion. Like Thirakwa’s, his trademark compositions became almost mandatory for young tabla players to learn. We are compelled to learn those compositions, not just because we want to emulate that sound, but because for us they have come to represent what Tabla is. In his early days, it is easy to tell that Zakir Hussain emulated his father in the same way many young tabla players did. Eventually he took those core compositions to another level entirely, and he continues to refine them even today. Together Zakir ji and Abba ji (as we know Ustad Alla Rakha) shaped the sound of tabla for generations to come, and no Tabla student in the world can deny this influence. Certainly I cannot.
As fortunate as we are to have a person as talented as Zakir ji in the world of tabla to serve as our ambassador, we are doubly fortunate that he is also a sweet, humble, and approachable human being. The first thing one might learn about him is that he has no time or concern for honorifics. Upon addressing him as “Zakir ji” (as I’m doing repeatedly here) he’ll quickly remind you that he is “Zakir bhai” only. He’s quick with jokes and can make everyone in an audience laugh and immediately adore him. It’s a remarkable trait, and anyone who has spent time with him comes to admire him for it. Even more importantly, Zakir ji has a tremendous respect for his peers and elders in the world of Indian Classical music and countless anecdotes speak to his remarkable depth of character in this regard. My guru, Pandit Sudhir Mainkar, can tell such stories endlessly, and I often tell these same stories to instruct my students in proper protocol. Maybe I'll share some in another blog post someday.
Compared with some of my friends I’ve not spent much time with Zakir ji at all; I am grateful merely to know that he knows who I am and that I am on his radar. As I recall I first met him in 2007 when he came to Portland for a Planet Drum concert with Mickey Hart and Giovanni Hidalgo: I was lucky enough to go backstage and meet all these outstanding musicians but was much too starstruck to say much of anything. I wish I had had the courage to ask him a question about his father, or about the way he played a certain bol, but I mostly kept quiet. I suppose that was for the best. Much more recently I was able to spend a week studying with Zakir ji in California in his annual workshop. Getting to spend time with such a living legend as he created compositions of such remarkable beauty and sophistication spontaneously was an unforgettable experience and it has certainly influenced my music and my teaching. I’m eagerly anticipating my next opportunity to go and learn with this inimitable master.
All of us students should be blessed to have a role model like Zakir Hussain in our lives to inspire and motivate us. Happy Birthday Zakir Bhai, and thank you for the gift of your music.
