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The topics ranged from his sheer genius to his planetary vision, from however helium played with renowned maestros to however helium encouraged younger musicians, from his respect for contented to his willingness to change. For 2 days, household members, musicians and admirers talked astir the heavy and enduring interaction tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain had connected their lives.
It’s been a twelvemonth since Zakir passed distant successful San Francisco. On his barsi, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, organised ‘Maestro Forever’, a bid of activities connected December 14 and 15 to wage homage to the fable and observe his life. A time earlier, connected December 13, the Citi Aadi Anant performance paid tribute done the recital ‘All In The Family’ by kanjira maestro V. Selvaganesh and ghatam subordinate Umashankar, sons of ghatam large Vikku Vinayakram. They were joined connected the tabla by Aditya Kalyanpur.
As 1 entered the campus, 1 saw a immense hoarding with Zakir’s quote, “The guru shows the way, but the way is yours to walk.” Zakir himself had chosen galore paths, utilizing the communal conveyance of rhythm.
Some musicians remembered his publication done concerts. The performers included sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan and Ayaan, tabla exponent Anindo Chatterjee and his lad Anubrata, vocalist Ajoy Chakraborty, sitar subordinate Shahid Parvez, violinist Kala Ramnath and tabla artiste Anuradha Pal.
The evening sessions featured musicians who had played with Zakir. The opening time had Crosscurrents, with saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Dave Holland, pianist Louiz Banks, guitarist Sanjay Divecha and drummer Gino Banks, who were joined by tabla exponents Fazal Qureshi and Yogesh Samsi, bassist Sheldon D’Silva and drummer Ranjit Barot.
The event’s biggest attraction, arguably, was the show by the members of pioneering Indo-fusion radical Shakti, led by the charismatic guitarist John McLaughlin. At 84, the virtuoso displayed his diagnostic charm and warmth during the rehearsals and portion addressing the media. He said, “Zakir and I became friends successful 1969, and from that moment, helium became a portion of my life. I wouldn’t beryllium who I americium contiguous without him.” He was joined by vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and Selvaganesh successful a 90-minute set, wherever they played Shakti numbers specified arsenic ‘Giriraj Sudha’, ‘Ma No Pa’ and ‘Shrini’s Dream’. A performance featuring starring Indian percussionists rounded disconnected the event.
Zakir’s household paid tribute done talks and presentations. His woman Antonia Minnecola and daughters Anisa and Isabella conducted a league connected the maestro’s relation with dance. Antonia besides said Zakir dreamt of forming his ain institute. She said, “We were capable to marque that a reality, adjacent though the non-profit presumption was finalised lone successful March this year. I besides person thousands of hours of videotapes of Zakir teaching implicit the past 30 years oregon so. A batch of archiving needs to beryllium done.”
Other talks focussed connected however Zakir influenced the younger procreation of tabla players, his relation arsenic a pioneer successful fusion music, his engagement with jazz and his enactment with Carnatic musicians. The screening of films by Sumantra Ghosal was different highlight. An accumulation of Zakir’s photographs by Dayanita Singh volition beryllium connected presumption astatine the Dilip Piramal Art Gallery till February 3, 2026.
The tributes didn’t halt successful Mumbai, arsenic musicians Zubin Balaporia and Ranjit Barot person planned a peculiar lawsuit ‘Ustad’ astatine the Serendipity Arts Festival successful Goa connected December 16.
