Zakir Hussain: A global citizen rooted in Indian ethos

A child prodigy, Zakir Hussain was not regimented by his teacher-father. He was allowed to develop wings and explore new shores. Illustration: Saai

A global citizen rooted in Indian ethos, Ustad Zakir Hussain blazed a trail when he carved evocative stories out of the percussive sound of the humble drum set creating music to bind a fractious world in harmony. His conversational style buzzed with a spark of spontaneity. Natural flow defined his music and personality. Mr. Hussain would impress the purists, enthral the seekers of world music, and handhold the fans of cinematic music into his creative ecstasy with equal felicity.

Like his carefully designed free-flowing hairstyle, the versatile artist would execute complex rhythms, intricate patterns, and nuanced dynamics and move on to items like the sound of traffic signals and deer’s walk without a pause.

In tune with technology, he experimented with frequencies to highlight the subtle shades of the instrument to establish that tabla is not just a rhythmic instrument but also has a distinct melodic quality.

Ustad Alla Rakha, credited with taking Indian classical to foreign shores along with Pandit Ravi Shankar believed that every instrument has a distinct spirit. Mr. Hussain befriended the tabla at the age of three and by the time he hit teenage, the instrument had become his muse for life and perhaps an extension of his personality. It came through in his stage performances when his demeanour switched between a devotional artist and a rock musician. After watching him play, one couldn’t see playing tabla as a chore in classical music. Mr. Hussain took his father’s legacy to the next level by adding a touch of showmanship and expanding the riches he inherited from the Punjab gharana. A keen learner and listener, Mr. Hussain was like a responsive satellite in orbit as an accompanist, shone like a blazing star in his solos, and reserved the adventurous streak of a meteor for creating fusion music.

A child prodigy, Mr. Hussain was not regimented by his teacher-father. He was allowed to develop wings and explore new shores. By 19, Mr. Hussain was teaching at the University of Washington before joining Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s music college in San Francisco where he met his soulmate Antonia Minnecola. Another fortuitous meeting in New York led to a lifelong bond with the iconic English guitarist John McLaughlin. Their friendship led to the formation of the groundbreaking Shakti band in 1973 which included violinist L. Shankar and percussionist T.H. Vinayakram. They blended Hindustani and Carnatic classical music with Western jazz influences.

Mr. Hussain’s desire to experiment led to rewarding collaborations with George Harrison, Irish singer Van Morrison, American percussionist Mickey Hart, Latin Jazz percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo, and Jerry Garcia, the lead vocalist, and guitarist of the Grateful Dread. He accompanied his father contemporaries Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan and shared a special bond with santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, flautist Hari Prasad Chaurasia, and sarangi stalwart Ustad Sultan Khan. Their jugalbandis would start as melodic banter and then turn meditative.

Fusion was never exotic for Mr. Hussain as he had grown up listening to stories of how Amir Khusrau blended the Indian traditions of Dhrupad and Haveli sangeet with Sufi Qaul to create Khayal. As a young musician, he saw his father and colleagues contributing to Hindi film music that liberally drew from diverse musical streams. Mr. Hussain had his brush with film music when he played tabla for Laxmikant Pyarelal’s maiden venture Parasmani. Later he composed music for Ismail Merchant’s films like Muhafiz, Aparna Sen’s Mr. And Mrs. Iyer, Rahul Dholakia’s Parzania, and Nandita Das’s Manto. The meaningful sound of his tabla lent layers to storytelling in international productions like Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and recently Dev Patel’s Monkey Man. He also acted in Merchant-Ivory productions like Heat and Dust and Sai Paranjpye’s Saaz.

However, it was a television commercial that made him a household figure in the late 1980s when he brought classical music to the mainstream by promoting a tea brand by playing tabla at the Taj Mahal. The combination of “Wah Taj!” and young Mr. Hussain’s curly locks and charming smile accompanied by the resonance of his playing ensured brand immortality.

Fame didn’t diminish his humility and age didn’t wilt his curiosity. Music was an endless journey for Mr. Hussain. Every time someone would toss the word perfection, he would riposte, “I haven’t played good enough to quit.”