Rhythm Master

Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, who performs in Singapore this month, sits down with Taéler to discuss the highlights of his storied career, his musical mentors and why he refuses to be referred to with the honorific Ustad’

- Ethan Kan

Something of the rapturous happens when Zakir Hussain plays the tabla. His fingers and palms move across the pair of classical Indian hand drums with deft agility, a feat that knits his face in complete concentration. And yet, despite this measured control, there is also an abandon that allows him to create the improvisational rhythms he is known for. He never looks down at his hands, only straight forward or up—simply letting the music guide him.

“The tabla has been my companion since I was three. It has never left my side,” Hussain says. “Without it, I do not feel complete.” Such is the dedication of a musician of more than six decades, who has earned adoring fans not only in his home country of India, but in the West as well. This year, at the 66th Grammy Awards, Hussain scored a triple win: Best Global Music Performance; Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for As We Speak; and Best Global Music Album for This Moment, the reunion record of his band Shakti. The band formed in 1973 and was reconstituted twice before settling into its current line‑up comprising Hussain, famed British jazz guitarist John McLaughlin, and Indian violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, vocalist Shankar Mahadevan and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram. “I feel blessed,” Hussain says, but also makes it clear that his wins are “not the pinnacle”. He explains: “It just means that everybody who has given you the award thinks that you have the makings to go further.”