Zakir Hussain Played Tabla in Indian Classical Music and Beyond …
Written and photographed by Banning Eyre, April 30, 2025
Across genres Zakir Hussain was a master player of the tabla, a pair of small hand drums fundamental to classical music of northern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh since the 18th century. Here he performs during the True People’s Celebration in Chichibu, Japan.
The sounds of Indian classical music flowed into jazz, American folk and popular music, modern dance and percussive virtuosity worthy of the man being honored, the late tabla maestro Zakir Hussain. In San Francisco, California’s Grace Cathedral, a parade of musicians took the stage wielding guitars, sitar, violin, banjo, saxophones and all manner of drums and other percussion instruments, summoning a mesmerizing flow of deeply felt music that lasted over four hours.
