Ravi Venugopalan of Palakkad was lucky enough to witness about 10 live performances of Ustad Zakir Hussain on his journey to better his career in music.
Many budding professional tablists from Kerala looked up to legendary percussionist Zakir Hussain as a guiding light to hone their skills and build a career. The departure of their beloved maestro, the doyen of Indian percussionists, has become deeply personal as some of these young musicians have been lucky enough to receive his blessings.
“The way the maestro created magic even from simple compositions in Tintal was enough to realize the depth of his mastery of the art. This was at a time when many young tabbalists believed that only the execution of complex compositions would help them climb to the top,” said Shaheen P Nazer, a 31-year-old professional tabbalist from Thrissar. Met Husain 6 times at various national venues.During his training in Kolkata under Pandit Shubhankar, he participated in many live performances took place where the tabla player displayed his skills in various gharanas and in its purest forms, he recalled.
Zakir Hussain’s novel use of tabla, which naturally broadened the horizons of rhythm in Hindustani music, has been a sweet challenge for all trainees and professionals alike, says Shaheen, a trained professional of Farrukhabad gharana, one of the seven traditional playing styles. to follow “There were some who tried to imitate his style but he was always keen to improve and take on new challenges to improve them,” he explains.
Ravi Venugopalan, a 25-year-old professional tabla player from Palakkad and disciple of tabla player Anindo Chatterjee, says he was inspired to build his career by watching Zakir Hussain perform live. “If a village boy like me was able to learn and play the tabla, it was all because of the maestro’s incomparable performance,” he says.
Ravi, who had the good fortune to meet the maestro about 10 times, says there were also opportunities to help pack the tabla set after stage performances. “Many times, I witnessed his interactions with fellow musicians, tabla students and instructors. We were also fortunate to learn the art of simplicity from the veteran.”
For Ajmal Rahim, another young professional percussionist from Kozhikode city, the biggest attraction has been the way Zakir Hussain has globalized tabla by assimilating it with various other popular genres. “Inspired by the maestro, new artists in the field are now experimenting with new things, which is constantly broadening the scope of the tabla in the evolving world of instrumental music,” he says.
Ajmal, who got his start in the world of music from his father, also says that many up and coming percussionists were inspired by the glory that Zakir Hussain brought to the fray to give him more time to perfect the instrument. Amidst the growing popularity of innovative electronic musical instruments, the tabla retains its revered position as the magical maestro created in the traditional instrument, he adds.
published – Dec 16, 2024 at 08:02 am IST