Zakir Hussain
Page 16
Getting ready for a concert, focussing on it, selecting the instrument that I need for the evening and tuning it—that whole process is meditation for me. It’s not sitting cross-legged in a lotus position, closing your eyes and taking deep breaths. Emptying your mind is the first law of meditation. Just throwing everything out and then reorganizing. For me, emptying my mind is not the issue. It is organizing my mind in an orderly fashion, so that when I speak my music, it comes out as Chapter 1, 2, 3, etc., and not Chapter 1, 5, 7. It should not be muddled.
I have come to terms with the fact that I am fallible, I am human, and at the same time I am not doing something fantastic and incredible, it’s just normal. I remind myself that I am no different from a surgeon or doctor, engineer or cook. They’re all good at what they do. It does not mean that I stand on a higher pedestal just because I am an artist.
NMK: Will you not miss the adulation if it goes away?
ZH: I don’t think I’ll miss it. I am very happy where I am, and that really has nothing to do with adulation. I am happy that at this age I am in this place. I started very early in life. I realize I am good at certain things and not at others. I’m definitely a bad actor, so there’s no reason to ever attempt acting again. I know I am a good tabla player, so I want to continue playing. I can do music well, so I can compose. But for me to think that I could sing is not a good idea.
I know there is no point in dwelling on the past because that’s done, it’s gone, and it’s over. So tomorrow I hope to create something different. I don’t want to fool my audience. I want to give them something that will satisfy me. It doesn’t matter how bad it is, or how good. That’s irrelevant. I love what I do. I love my relationship with my instrument. So, when I’m on the stage, I am not afraid to share that happiness. I think I’ve arrived at the same point where my father was vis-à-vis his instrument and his music.
Success is not how many Grammys you win or how many platinum records you have. Success is standing tall behind something and saying—this is what I wanted. I am one of those musicians who came at the cusp of a great change in the music world and I was carried on that wave. I had the good fortune of establishing a very unhurried relationship with music, and at the same time, the wave took me places. Otherwise, I would have to run to keep up. I was already sitting on the bus before it drove off.
Index
‘Aadmi ko chhahiye waqt se darr kar rahe’
Aandhiyan
‘Aap ki nazron ne samjha…’
Abraham, Mr
Ahmad, Zaheer
Akhtar, Begum
Akhtar, Javed
Ali Akbar College of Music
Ali, Naushad
‘Allah tero naam’
Alla Rakha Foundation
Allarakha (documentary film title)
Almas, Bibi Bai
Amonkar, Kishori
Anand, Chetan
Anand, Dev
Anisa. See Phillips
Anmol Ghadi
Annapurna Devi
Ashok Kumar
Asif, K.
Asimov, Isaac
Aulia, Khurshid (sister)
Aulia, Ayub (brother-in-law)
Aulia, Ghazal (niece)
Aulia, Ameer Najeeb (nephew)
Aulia, Mukarram Zaki (nephew)
‘Awaaz de kahaan hai’
Azmi, Kaifi
Azmi, Shabana
Bachani, Nirmala
Baksh, Qadir, Mian
Banerjee, Nikhil, Pandit
Banks, Louiz
Bertolucci, Bernardo
Bhatkhande, V.N.
Bhosle, Asha
Bilquis (sister)
Birdman
Bose, Rahul
Burman, R.D.
Burman, S.D.
Butler, Michael
Chatterjee, Anidxo, Pandit
Chaudhuri, Swapan, Pandit
Chaurasia, Hariprasad, Pandit
Chaurasia, Rakesh
Cobham, Billy
Cohen, Avishai
Dadarkar, Mujeeb
Davis, Miles
Diga Rhythm Band
Divecha, Sanjay
Duke, George
Dutt, Nargis
Elfman, Danny
Eliot, T.S.
Everybody Says I’m Fine!
Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Famous Studio
Federer, Roger
Fleck, Béla
Flye, Tom
Ganga Bai
Gauhar Jaan
Ghosal, Sumantra, ix
Ghosh, Pannalal, Pandit
Girija Devi
Global Drum Project, The
Goonj Uthi Shehnai
Grateful Dead
Gulzar
Gurtu, Shobha
Gyani Baba
Haji Malang
Hancock, Herbie
Harland, Eric
Hart, Mickey
Drumming at the Edge of Magic: A Journey into the Spirit of Percussion
Hassan, Mehdi
Hazrat Imam Hussain
Heat and Dust
Herrmann, Bernard
Householder, The,
Hum Dono
Hungry Stones
Husain, M.F.
Hussain, Faizan (nephew)
Hussain, Sajjad
IMG Artists Ltd.
Inquilab
Iqbal
Ivory, James
‘Jab pyaar kiya toh darna kya’
Jaidev
Jarre, Maurice
Jasraj, Pandit
Jaws
Joshi, Bhimsen, Pandit
‘Ka karun sajni aaye na balaam’
Kapoor, Jennifer Kendal
Kapoor, Prithviraj
Kapoor, Raj
Karuna Supreme
Katrak, Minoo
Keer, Maruti
Khan, Aashish
Khan, Ali Akbar, Ustad
Khan, Allauddin, Ustad
Khan, Amaan Ali, Ustad
Khan, Amir, Ustad
Khan, Amir Hussain, Ustad
Khan, Amjad Ali, Ustad
Khan, Ashiq Ali, Ustad
Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali, Ustad
Khan, Bismillah, Ustad
Khan, Dilshad
Khan, Faiyaz, Ustad
Khan, Ghulam Mustafa, Ustad
Khan, Habibuddin, Ustad
Khan, Halim Jaffer, Ustad
Khan, Mehboob
Khan, Munawar Ali, Ustad
Khan, Nisar Hussain, Ustad
Khan, Rais, Ustad
Khan, Raja Mehdi Ali
Khan, Sabir
Khan, Sabri, Ustad
Khan, Sultan, Ustad
Khan, Shafaat Ahmed, Ustad
Khan, Vilayat, Ustad
Khayyam
Khokhar, Abhinav
Khurshid Apa. See Aulia, Khurshid
Kumar, Dilip
Kumar Gandharva, Pandit
Kumar, Kishore
Kumar, Niladri
Lala Bhai
Last Emperor, The
Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Lieberman, Fredric
Little Buddha
Lloyd, Charles
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Ludhianvi, Sahir
Lynn McDowell, Judy
Maa Baap
Madari
Madhubala
Mahadevan, Shankar
Maharaj, Birju, Pandit
Maharaj, Chaube, Pandit
Maharaj, Kanthe, Pandit
Maharaj, Kishan, Pandit, viii
‘Main piya teri tu maane ya na maane’
‘Main zidxagi ka saath nibhaata chala gaya’
Maharaj, Pooran, Pandit
Makeba, Miriam
Malang, Haji
Mangeshkar, Lata
McLaughlin, John
Mehboob Recording Studio
Menuhin, Yehudi
Merchant–Ivory
Minnecola, Antonia, (Toni, wife)
Mohan, Madan
Mohan Studio
Moment Records
‘Mora nadaan balma na jaane dil ki baat’
Moreira, Airto
Mughal-e-Azam
Mukesh
Mukherjee, Budhaditya, Pandit
Munawar (brother)
Moradabadi, Jigar
Nadkarni, Mohan
‘Nahin aaye sawariya ghir aaye badariya’
Narayan, Ram, Pandit
Navketan Films
Nayyar, O.P.
Nigam, Sonu
Nigar, Sultana
Nirmala Devi
Noor Jehan
‘O jaanewaale ruk ja koi dam’
Olatunji, Babatunde
Pajama Game, The
Paranjpye, Sai
Parker, Charlie Bird
Peraza, Armando
Phillips, Anisa (daughter)
Phillips, Taylor (son-in-law)
Phillips, Zara (granddaughter)
Planet Drum
Prasad, Laxman, Jaipurwale
Prasad, Samta, Pandit, viii
Prithvi Theatre
Pyarelal. See Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Qureshi, Allarakha, Ustad, (Abba)
Qureshi, Bavi Begum Allarakha (Amma)
Qureshi, Birwa (sister-in-law)
Qureshi, Fazal (brother)
Alia (Fazal and Birwa’s daughter)
Azann (Fazal and Birwa’s son)
Qureshi, Geetika Varde (sister-in-law)
Shikharnaad (Taufiq and Geetika’s son)
Qureshi, Hashim Ali (grandfather)
Qureshi, Isabella (daughter)
Qureshi, Taufiq (brother)
Qureshi, Zakir Hussain
birth
childhood
education
marriage
naming
‘Raat bhi hai kuchh bheegi bheegi’
Rafi, Mohammed
Raga, a journey to the soul of India
Rahman, A.R.
Rahman, Habiba
Ray, Satyajit
Razia Apa (sister)
Afshan (Razia’s daughter)
Faizan (Razia’s son)
Reshma aur Shera
Rhythm Devils
Rich, Buddy
‘Ridx jo mujhko samajhte hain unhen hosh nahin’
Roshan
Roy, Bimal
Saaz
Sakamoto, Ryuichi
Salim-Suleiman
Samanta, Shakti
Santana, Carlos
Sayani, Ayesha
Shaikh, Afshan Hussain (niece)
Shakti
Shankar, L.
Shankar, Lakshmi
Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Shankar, Ravi, Pandit
My Music, My Life
Shankar, Rajendra
Sharma, Rahul
Sharma, Shivkumar, Pandit
Shaukat Apa
Sinha, Tapan
Sitara Devi
Sood, Daman
Soweto Choir
Speaking Hand, The: Zakir Hussain and the Art of the Indian Drum
Star Wars
Sultanpuri, Majrooh
‘Suno chhoti si gudiya ki lambi kahaani’
Sur Singar Samsad
‘Tere pyaar mein ruswa ho kar jaayen kahaan deewane log’
Thakur, Omkarnath, Pandit
Thirakwa, Ahmedjaan, Ustad
Toni. See Minnecola, Antonia
Tripathi, Abu
Tripathi, Anju
Tripathi, Kamalapati
Ustad Allarakha Institute of Music, Mumbai
Vhatkar, Haridas
Vinayakram, T.H. (Vikkuji)
Wavy Gravy
Williams, John
Winehouse, Amy
Acknowledgements
My deepest gratitude goes to Antonia Minnecola (Toni) who has helped at every stage of this book. Her meticulous eye for detail and most valuable advice are much appreciated. I am most grateful for the assistance of Nirmala Bachani, Khurshid Aulia, the Alla Rakha Foundation, London, Ayesha Sayani, Sumantra Ghosal, Shonali Gajwani, Peter Chappell, Anisa Phillips, Isabella Qureshi, Kunal Kapoor, Shameem Kabir, Priya Kumar, Jon Page, Eric Hayes, Shahrukh Hussain, Naresh Fernandes, Urvashi Bachani, HarperCollins Publishers India and Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri. Special thanks to Dayanita Singh, Michael Weintrob, Susana Millman and Rakesh Chaurasia for their kind and generous permission to allow their photographs to be reproduced in this book.
About the Book
Tabla virtuoso, composer and percussionist Zakir Hussain is an international music phenomenon. The eldest son of the legendary Ustad Allarakha, Zakir gave his first public concert at the age of seven and was immediately hailed a child prodigy. In later years, his masterful dexterity and creative genius led to his becoming one of the most sought-after accompanists to the very best of Hindustani classical musicians and dancers. Zakir Hussain is equally recognized as one of the foremost contemporary jazz and world music percussionists; he has performed at innumerable concerts both as a solo artist and with renowned jazz musicians on the grand stages of the world, from the Royal Albert Hall to Madison Square Garden. With John McLaughlin, L. Shankar and T.H. Vinayakram, Zakir Hussain created music history with the band Shakti. He has acted in James Ivory’s Heat and Dust and Sai Paranjpye’s Saaz, and scored music for directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci (Little Buddha), Aparna Sen (Mr. & Mrs. Iyer) and Ismail Merchant (In Custody, The Mystic Masseur); he has also played the tabla for countless 1960s Hindi film soundtracks.
In an in-depth conversation with Zakir Hussain, Nasreen Munni Kabir takes the readers through the story of his life: how he was deemed an ‘unlucky’ child; the early years of growing up in Mahim; his training from age four with his extraordinary father; and his experiences and memories working with a host of legendary musicians, including Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Ustad Vilayat Khan. A born storyteller, Zakir speaks with humour and humility of his understanding of music, his relationship with his students, his dedication and love for the tabla, and the way he negotiates life as an acclaimed celebrity living in both America and India.
Zakir Hussain: A Life in Music is a brilliant introduction to the life and times of a huge music star, a revered role model and a visionary world musician.
About the Author
Born in India, Nasreen Munni Kabir has written sixteen books on Hindi cinema and made several TV series on the subject for Channel 4, UK. She continues to work as their Indian cinema consultant, selecting their annual Indian film season. A former governor on the board of the British Film Institute, Nasreen lives in London.
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First published in hardback in India in 2018 by
HarperCollins Publishers India
Text © Zakir Hussain and Nasreen Munni Kabir 2018
P-ISBN: 978-93-5277-049-6
Epub Edition © January 2018 ISBN: 978-93-5277-050-2
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by him, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.
Zakir Hussain and Nasreen Munni Kabir assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work.
All photographs are from the Zakir Hussain Collection unless photographer’s name is expressly mentioned, in which case the copyright is theirs. In the event that the name of an individual photographer has been inadvertently uncredited, HarperCollins would be happy to include this information on notification by the concerned individual in subsequent editions, if any.
All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on—screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse—engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers India.
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