Zakir Hussain (1951-2024): One of the most influential global musical voices of his generation

Zakir Hussain was one of the most important, influential and human musical voices of his generation – not just in India but in the world. Combined with the training that was available to him from his father, tabla maestro Alla Rakha, Zakir-bhai’s personality, talent and creativity allowed him to step into a unique musical space and time, when India and Indian music took to the world stage and when Indian musicians, led by Zakir, shaped the genre that the West came to call “World Music”.

India sometimes called it fusion, but regardless of the label, Zakir-bhai led its development, working with musicians of all styles and from all corners of the globe. In this he followed in the footsteps of some of his elders: not only his father, but others such as the legendary Ali Akbar Khan, with whom he created some of the most challenging and wonderful Hindustani classical music to be heard in the 20th century.

It was the sheer vitality of his playing in the Shakti recordings of the 1970s that pulled me into the world of tabla and the ultimately into the world of Zakir Hussain. As one of a small hoard of foreigners trying to find a footing in...

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