Zakir Hussain

Born	9 March 1951 (age 61)
Origin	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Genres	Hindustani classical music, jazz fusion
Occupations	Tabla Maestro
Instruments	Tabla
Years active	1963–present
Labels	HMV
Website	www.zakirhussain.com

 

Zakir Hussain, was born in 1951 on 9th March, and has become well known as a composer, tabla player, actor and music producer of Indian origin. He was born to the very famous player of tabla from India, Alla Rakha in Mumbai. His schooling was in St. Michael’s High School and from St. Xaviers in Mumbai, he passed his graduation. Fazal Qureshi,Taufiq Qureshi and Maral Qureshi are his brothers, younger to him. At the time of his birth, Alla Rakha was very ill. It is said that during this period, a sage came to their house, who made a prediction that Zakir would fall ill, when his father’s illness will get transferred to him till the age of four years. This exact thing happened and he remained ill for four years after his birth.

Biography

Ustad Zakir Hussain is famous as tabla maestro, and he is the son of Ustad Alla Rakha, who himself was a renowned player of tabla. After his birth in 1951, on 9th March, he had been showing interest in playing tabla since a tender age. By the time he was twelve, he had gone on tours and performed on stage and in concerts, garnering fame and recognition.

Zakir Hussain was married to a kathak dancer and also a teacher, by the name of Antonia Minnecola, who also took up his managerial activities and from this marriage, he has daughters, Isabella Qureshi and Anisa Qureshi. Presently, Anisa Qureshi is working on film making and video production, after having her graduation from UCLA, while Isabella is continuing her major in dance from Manhattan.

Zakir Hussain was given the title of Old Dominion Fellow by Princeton University, Humanities Council, during the period 2005-2006, where he was the residing professor of music. He has also worked at Stanford University as visiting professor.

Career

Zakir Hussain has collaborated with many Indian as well as western musicians, but the one production which has been notable is that of working with the Beatles. When in 1970, he went to foreign countries, he went further and further. In the year 1971, he partnered with Shanti, an American band playing psychedelic music and came out with an album. In the year 1973 he also had a brief appearance in the album of George Harrison, named ‘Living in the Material World’. He partnered with John McLaughlin to come up with a band title ‘Shakti’, wherein Indo-Jazz music was created successfully. As a result of this collaboration, many successful albums were created, such as ‘A Handful of Beauty’, ‘Natural Elements’ and Shakti. He also worked with Mickey Hart, who was a famous drummer and musicologist, on various albums, starting with ‘Rolling Thunder’, which was the first created album by Mickey alone. Then onwards, due to the successful partnership, many more albums were created such as ‘At the Edge’, ‘Diga’, ‘Mickey Hart’s Mystery Box’, ‘Spirit into Sound’, ‘Supralingua’, ‘Planet Drum’ and ‘Global Drum Project’.

Padma Shri, which is among the top honors for civilians in India, was bestowed upon Zakir Hussain, making him the youngest musician and tabla player to get the award. In 1991 April, he was felicitated by President of India, with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, identifying his talent by the top cultural institute of India. He was among those fortunate people, who got a chance to work with Hart’s bands such as ‘Planet Drum’, ‘Diga Rhythm Band’, ‘Global Drum Project’ and ‘Bembe Orishas’. Planet Drum released the first album, which got the Grammy Award for the first time in 1992, in the category of ‘Best World Music Album’. Then after 20 years gap, he again collaborated with McLaughlin to come up with the band named Remember Shakti, which composed a numbers famous albums such as ‘The Believer’, ‘Remember Shakti’, ‘Live at Miles Davis Hall’, ‘Live at 38th Montreux Jazz Festival’ and ‘Saturday Night in Bombay’. In the year 2002, it was Padma Bhushan, which is the third among the top civilian honors in India, which was conferred on Zakir Hussain.

Awards

• Padma Shri Award, 1988
• Indo-American Award for outstanding cultural contribution to relations between the United States and India, 1990
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 1991
• Grammy Award for 'Planet Drum' as Best World Music Album, 1992
• Downbeat Critics' Poll for 'Planet Drum' as Best World Beat Album, 1992
• NARM Indie Best Seller Award for 'Planet Drum' as a World Music Recording, 1992
• National Heritage Fellowship, 1999
• Padma Bhushan Award, 2002
• Kalidas Samman by the Government of Madhya Pradesh, 2006
• Best World Music by Modern Drummer magazine, 2007
• Best World Beat Drummer by Drum! magazine, 2007
• Grammy Award for 'Global Drum Project' as Contemporary World Music Album, 2009

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