He says he was the only kid on his block who would walk around with a boombox on his shoulder, blasting rock songs like The Doors' "Light My Fire." Hussain even considered swapping his tablas for a drum set at one point. When that was over, I'd go across the street into my school, which was a Catholic school, and we'd sing the hymns and then go to class." He adds, "Doing all of that in the space of, like, five-and-a-half or six hours, I was a very confused child."īut Hussain's mind was opened to new things - including the music his dad would bring home from his world tours. "From about 2:30 on, he talked to me, and then at 6:30 I would go to the local Islamic school, the madrassa, and learn to recite the Quran. To be in his presence was great," he says. Hussain says that nocturnal ritual would be repeated every night for four years, his demanding school schedule notwithstanding. "And he told me about the history of our tradition and the great masters of the past, and what it all is - just kind of developing inside me the whole idea of existing in this world." "I was woken up at 2:30 in the morning, and that's when we sat and talked rhythm," he says. The lessons were to begin in the middle of the night. Hussain was 7 when his father first approached him and asked if he was ready to learn the tabla for real. He has broken down barriers and brought together musicians from all different cultures. Zakir Hussain has carried on that tradition - not only as one of the world's foremost Indian percussionists, but also as one of the architects of modern world music. Alla Rakha, the father, is considered one of the world's greatest players of the tabla, a centuries-old Indian hand drum. The prayer was that his son would carry on his legacy as an Indian classical musician.
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