About Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain Allarakha Qureshi , the eldest son of tabla player Alla Rakha, was an Indian tabla player, composer, arranger, percussionist, music producer and film actor. He was widely regarded as the greatest tabla player of his generation and one of the greatest percussionists. His music transcended genres. He brought Indian classical music to a global audience and won four Grammy Awards.
Hussain was awarded the United States National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship, the highest award given to traditional artists and musicians. He was also given the Government of India's Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1990 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, Ratna Sadsya, in 2018.
Hussain received seven Grammy Award nominations with four wins, including three in 2024. He was described as the most recognizable exponent of the tabla by The Guardian. The New York Times marveled that the "blur of his fingers rivals the beat of a hummingbird's wings."
Zakir Hussain Allarakha Qureshi was born on 9 March 1951 in present-day Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, to tabla master Alla Rakha Qureshi, "one of the most celebrated tabla players in the history of Indian classical music." Hussain's formal training in Hindustani classical music began at the age of seven with three hours of tuition first thing every morning. He started performing in concerts at the age of seven and began touring by the age of 12.
Hussain studied at St. Michael's High School in Mahim and graduated from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. After college he discovered the music of Jimi Hendrix and The Doors and was considering being a rock drummer, but he was dissuaded from this by George Harrison, who told him that as a tabla player he could combine eastern and western music and create his own unique sound.
Hussain moved to San Francisco in the late 1960s and said he learned as much from the Grateful Dead's drummer as he had from his classical studies, including "how to find the groove and understand the backbeat, and not to play too many notes." He recalled jam sessions with the band that lasted two or three days.
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