For Zakir Hussain, April 29, 2009—the date on which he presents the final concert in his five-show
Perspectives Carnegie Hall—holds very special meaning. His father, the late Ustad Alla Rakha, would have turned 90 year old on this day, and had it not been for his father’s spiritual and musical guidance, Zakir’s path might have taken some very different turns.
“My father was my guru,” says Zakir. “My training in traditional forms, ideas, and repertoire began with him when I was seven years old. By the time I was 18 and left India to come to America, I had an identity and I did not get lost in all that came my way. I was able to interact with the confidence that I know who I am.”
Upon his arrival in the US, Zakir immediately used that training and confidence to take the tabla beyond its Indian roots, mixing it up with musicians from within the jazz and rock arena, as well as classical Indian players. “So the biggest offering I can make to my father on his 90th birthday is to have all of these elements come together and pay homage to the man who made it all possible for me,” Zakir says.
To celebrate the anniversary of his father’s birth, Zakir is uniting what he calls “the two pillars on different parts of the globe of improvised music, jazz and Indian.” For the pillar representing jazz, Zakir has invited legendary saxophonist and flutist Charles Lloyd and drummer Eric Harland. Together,the three musicians have performed as Sangam, recording a live album under that name for ECM Records in 2006. And for the Indian “pillar” Hussain is reconvening (minus guitarist John McLaughlin) the members of Remember Shakti, a pan-cultural group that brought a contemporary sensibility to classical Indian music: U. Shrinivas (mandolin), Shankar Mahadevan (vocals), V. Selvaganesh (
kanjira and
mridangam) and T. H. “Vikku” Vinayakram (
ghatam).
“Indian classical elements and jazz have been [mixing] since Coltrane decided to move into that area,” says Zakir. “So having Charles Lloyd here brings up the idea of ‘where is that going?’ Eric Harland, who has extraordinary abilities and vision, is an out-and-out jazz-thinking drummer, but we’ve found a place where we can coexist together. And then Remember Shakti also brings to the fore my Bollywood connection, because Shankar Mahadevan is the number one Bollywood singer of today. We’ve worked together in that world for the last 15 to 18 years. So that element also creeps in, the old elements working in the new frying pan. It’s very exciting, and I’m humbled that a tabla player can do this.”
—Jeff Tamarkin is the Associate Editor of
JazzTimes magazine.
© 2009 The Carnegie Hall Corporation