THE LEGEND AND HIS RHYTHM, IN FIVE TABLA MOVEMENTS

He will turn 73 this month and he has just won three Grammys. But that is not going to slow down the maestro. Ustad Zakir Hussain is as busy with his Hindustani classical and fusion projects as he was when he started his career nearly six decades ago

- NARENDRA KUSNUR

MOVEMENT 1-
THEKA

FOR TABLA virtuoso Ustad Zakir Hussain, who will turn 73 this month, the decision to attend the Grammy awards ceremony in Los Angeles on February 4th was taken at the last minute. Both he and guitarist John McLaughlin, who had co-founded the Indo-jazz fusion group Shakti in 1973, had other commitments. Hussain managed to juggle his schedule and was delighted to be present at the prestigious event.

The new Shakti album This Moment went on to win the Best Global Music Album award. Hussain won two other Grammys for the album As We Speak, featuring banjo player Bela Fleck, bassist Edgar Meyer, and flutist Rakesh Chaurasia. It won the Best Global Music Performance award for the song "Pashto," and the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. He thus became the first Indian artiste to pick up three Grammys on a single night. He had earlier played an active part in the Grammy-winning albums Planet Drum (1991) and Global Drum Project (2008), spearheaded by Mickey Hart, drummer of rock band Grateful Dead.

Interestingly, because of an unexpected development, the Padma Vibhushan recipient could not personally collect the Shakti award. He explains, "The award for 'Pashto' was announced first. I wasn't expecting it at all, and since I hadn't prepared a thank-you speech, I ended up mumbling something randomly. Bela couldn't attend the ceremony and as per the procedure, Edgar, Rakesh, and I went backstage to give bytes to the media.

While that was happening, the Shakti Award was announced, and I was clueless. It was only befitting that the younger generation of Shakti musicians - vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and kanjira player V. Selvaganesh collected the award."