On Friday, March 6, a top-tier collective of musicians gathered at Carnegie Hall in New York City to pay tribute to the late tabla master, India’s percussive ambassador, Zakir Hussain, with a lively display of musical styles and patterns. Hussain passed away on December 15, 2024, leaving an overwhelming gap in world music through the loss of an internationally recognized and beloved maestro.
Officially titled “Zakir Hussain Eternal: Celebrating 75 Years of Genius,” the night brought an outstanding lineup of artists to the New York location for participation in the expansive musical delivery, which feature longtime collaborators Mickey Hart and Béla Fleck, as well as Charles Lloyd, Fazal Qureshi, V. Selvaganesh, Kala Ramnath, Jayanthi Kumaresh, Vijay Iyer, Marvin Sewell, Eric Harland, Nitin Mitta, Alam Khan, Harish Raghavan, Anantha R. Krishnan, Gerald Clayton, Marcus Gilmore, Swami Selvaganesh, Tessa Lark, Joshua Roman, Sikiru Adepoju and the Zakir Hussain Tabla Choir.
The aforementioned players were also joined by a special guest, drummer Steve Smith, best known as a member of Journey. Smith’s tie to Hussain reflects their shared affinity for Western and Indian drumming traditions, coalesced through the release of Drum Nation. The duo also partnered on “Path of Rhythm,” a percussion camp and workshop program.
Notably, Hart nodded to his Planet Drum history with Hussain. Fleck put on a demonstration of his own roots with the artist, as a trio with fellow accompanist Edgar Meyer, alluding to the ensemble’s triple concert, which took shape as the 2006 opening of the Nashville Symphony’s Schermerhorn Center.
In our new interview with Hart and Fleck, the famed banjoist spoke to Hussain’s global appeal, telling Relix Editor-in-Chief, Dean Budnick, “People who didn’t even know that much about music knew about Zakir. He was like the Michael Jordan of the tabla. A lot of people who didn’t check out basketball checked out Michael Jordan because he was so dynamic and amazing. Zakir was like that. He brought a lot of people to the music just by his sheer personality and class.”
Prior to the event, Hart projected, “There are going to be a lot of people there who are the best at what they do. Béla Fleck, who’s played with Zakir Hussain for many years and knows Zakir’s music, will be playing with me in [an] ensemble, as well as his own performance. Then there’s Charles Lloyd, Zakir’s brother Fazal, Eric Harland, Marcus Gilmore, Edgar Meyer, and all kinds of wonderful people from India and America, coming together. It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of night.”
Scroll down to view fan-shot clips and more from Friday night’s tribute.
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