Indian maestros to share the stage

By Joanna Habdank

Despite performing and studying for decades, world-renowned tabla player Zakir Hussain says he's still learning every day.

That may be surprising to hear considering he has played with some of the world's finest musicians, including jazz artist John McLaughlin, Carlos Santana and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. He also worked with the Beatles and has been involved in scores of other collaborations. On top of that, he has studied different types of world music (Afro-Cuban, Chinese, Indonesian and African) allowing him to interact with musicians from an array of traditions and genres.

But to Hussain it is all about getting back to the basics and being the best student he can be. "There is no use trying to become a master because every day is a learning experience," says Hussain, who performs with his longtime musical partner, santoorist Pandit Skivkumar Sharma May 3 at Centennial Theatre.

He began this musical learning experience when he was three years old in his native India. His father (Ustad Alla Rakha, one of India's most celebrated drummers) started passing on to him his own knowledge of the tabla, a popular Indian instrument consisting of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres. He was following the musical teachings traditionally passed on through generations from fathers to sons in the classical Indian tradition. Back then, you had to be born into a musical family to go into it as a career, but that is changing, he says.

"I guess you could say that the musicians of my generation are probably some of the last ones to still be following the old system of carrying on the family profession," explains Hussain. "Now it is more of an art form that is performed and learned and experienced by people of all castes and creeds in India. It's not just the domain of music families of eight, nine, 10 generations."

Luckily, it was something that he enjoyed. "It was something that was just right for the both of us," says Hussain of the time he spent learning from his father.

The traditional Hindustani music that Hussain plays has roots dating back over 2,000 years and reflects in part India's rich religious makeup. It's Hindu spiritual or religious forms of music combined with Muslim religious music, with the two music genres combined under the patronage of the Mughal kings, notes Hussain.

The form then flourished and was adopted by both Muslims and Hindus. "It's not harmonic, like the Western classical style of music, it's more melodic. We don't deal in harmony, we just play one note at a time and develop the melody," he says.

It is a style comparable to jazz, he says, adding that musicians like the great John Coltrane and Charlie Parker experimented and adopted modal music to structure their own performances.

When Hussain plays with Western musicians, or with Sharma, he tends to improvise on stage and play with more intuition than a set structure, he says. This way, each experience is truly unique. "You can get on stage and start from scratch with an open mind to open musical ideas... and come up with a story that appeals to you."

While playing with Sharma allows the space and the time for Hussain to do what he does best, it is a slightly different dynamic with other musicians, he says.

With artists like McLaughlin, it becomes a particular exchange of ideas, because they in turn are interested in Hussain's art form. "It's a different experience because they are great musicians of their own genre, like jazz but they have taken the time to study my world and my music as well, just like I have taken the time to study their music."

Despite creating different fusions of music with other genres, he always stays true to the musical form he learned from his father. "What makes me unique is that I'm not trying to change myself visibly, physically or traditionally. I'm still playing the instrument that was taught to me as a child."

Call 604-984-4484 for tickets.

published on 05/02/2007