Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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HUSSAIN, Zakir

(b 9 March '51, Bombay, India) Northern Indian (Hindustani) classical tabla player and percussionist, with an unrivalled ability to perform as both soloist and accompanist in Indian popular music, classical music, East--West fusion, jazz and rock without compromising his integrity. He is the son of Alla Rakha, brother of Fazal Qureshi, both of whom are renowned tabla players. He spent his formative years in Bombay and studied Northern Indian (Hindustani) classical music under his father; he later also studied Southern Indian (Karnatic) percussion, an unusual step because the traditions while similar are distinct, and musicians seldom 'cross over'. He played his first public show at age seven and had turned pro by his early teens. He appeared fleetingly in the government's documentary film about his father '70, Ustad Alla Rakha. He taught at the Ali Akbar College in California and came to the notice of guitarist John McLaughlin, then having considerable success with the Mahavishnu Orchestra; they played informally together at the request of Ali Akbar Khan '70. Hussain had already performed in the fusion act Shanti (one album on Atlantic), paving the way for Shakti, perhaps the finest Indo-jazz fusion group of the era (see that entry). Hussain worked with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead on Hart's Rolling Thunder '72 on WB; with the tuned percussion project the Diga Rhythm Band, whose eponymous '76 album is now on Rykodisc; on Coppola's Apocalypse Now film soundtrack; on At The Edge '90, Planet Drum '91 and Mystery Box '96. In '87 Hussain founded a performing collective with guitarist Larry Coryell, violinist Shankar, santoor virtuoso Shivkumar Sharma and T. H. Vinayakram, known as Peshkar although the word was a description of the event and not actually their name; their performances were inventive and exciting, drawing on Northern and Southern Indian traditions with a leavening of jazz.

Hart guested on Zakir Hussain And The Rhythm Experience '87 on Aspen; Hussain guested on Planet Drum member Airto's solo album The Other Side Of This '92 on Rykodisc, also on albums with George Harrison, Van Morrison etc. He contributed to the soundtrack of (and acted alongside Julie Christie) director James Ivory's film Heat And Dust '82, other musicians incl. flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and sarangi player Sultan Khan; with Sultan Khan he worked on the soundtrack to Merchant/Ivory's In Custody '94.

Within Indian classical music he recorded with the cream of Indian musicians. A tiny sample would incl. work with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar (Live In Concert on EMI India '92, in The Spirit Of Freedom Concerts Series, Concert Two on Bombay-based Pan Music & Magazines '95 and Concert For Peace on Moment '95), flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia (Indian Night Live Stuttgart '88 on Chhanda Dhara and Venu on Rykodisc '89); with Shivkumar Sharma (Hundred Strings Of Santoor on Chhanda Dhara '86, Rag Madhuvanti Rag Misra Tilang on Nimbus '88); with his father (Tabla '83 and Rhythm On Indian Drums '90 on EMI India, Tabla Duet on Chhanda Dhara '88); with his father and brother (Tabla Trio on Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan); with Sultan Khan (Zakir Hussain And Sultan Khan '87 and Singing Sarangi '88 both on Chhanda Dhara); and with Shankar (Who's To Know '81 and Song For Everyone '85, both on ECM). In '91 he founded his own Moment label in San Anselmo CA with the goal of releasing high- quality recordings of Indian classical musicians.