Zakir Hussain And Masters Of Percussion Return To The Southern

Appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large as an international phenomenon and one of the greatest musicians of our time, Zakir Hussain is a classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order. In Masters of Percussion, the Grammy-winning Hussain leads a mesmerizing ensemble of masters in Indian classical music including the astonishing Niladri Kumar on sitar, the peerless Eric Harland on Western drums, and the Kerala Drummers from the southwestern coast of India.

CAPA presents Zakir Hussain and Masters of Percussion at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.) on Wednesday, April 17, at 8 pm. Tickets are $28.50-$48.50 and can be purchased in-person at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), online at www.capa.com, or by phone at (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000.

Hussain is the pre-eminent classical tabla virtuoso of our time and is appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large as an international phenomenon. A national treasure in his native India, he is one of the world's most esteemed and influential musicians, renowned for his genre-defying collaborations, including Shakti, the Diga Rhythm Band, Planet Drum, Tabla Beat Science, Celtic Connection, Sangam with Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland, in trio with Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer and, most recently, with Herbie Hancock.

The foremost disciple of his father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha, Hussain was a child prodigy who began his professional career at 12, accompanying India's greatest classical musicians and dancers, and touring internationally with great success by the age of 18.

As a composer, he has scored music for numerous feature films and major events and has composed three concertos. The most recent enjoys the distinction of being the first-ever concerto for tabla and orchestra and was premiered in India in September 2015, in Europe and the UK in 2016, and in the United States in April 2017, by the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center.

A multiple Grammy Award winner, Hussain is the recipient of countless awards and honors, including Padma Bhushan, National Heritage Fellowship and Officier in France's Order of Arts and Letters. In 2015, he was voted "Best Percussionist" by both the DownBeat Critics' Poll and Modern Drummer's Reader's Poll. He has taught at Princeton, Stanford, and the University of California at Berkeley, and is the founder and president of Moment! Records, an independent record label presenting rare live concert recordings of Indian classical music and world music. Hussain was resident artistic director at SF Jazz (2013-16) and was presented with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 in recognition of his "unparalleled contribution to the world of music."

Masters of Percussion grew from Hussain's duet tours with his late father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha, and began biennial appearances in1996 to provide a platform for rarely heard rhythm traditions from India. Over time, the ensemble expanded to include great drummers and percussionists from many world traditions, including jazz, as well as the occasional stringed instrument. 2019 will be the centennial year of Allarakha's birth, so this will be a very special MOP tour.

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