Jazz Articles about Zakir Hussain

About Zakir Hussain

Album Review

Charles Lloyd: Sangam & Friends

Read "Sangam & Friends" reviewed by Jack Kenny

by Jack Kenny
August 9, 2026

It has been fascinating to observe how Charles Lloyd has travelled from his near rock-star prominence in the 1960s to his current stature as a spiritually oriented elder, often credited with fostering a meaningful dialogue between Eastern and Western musical traditions. At the core of Sangam & Friends lies the Lloyd--Zakir Hussain--Eric Harland triangle, whose collective energy shapes the album's identity. The title Sangam--suggesting a confluence or coming-together--aptly describes music that feels cumulative rather than episodic, as Indian ...

Album Review

Charles Lloyd: Sangam & Friends

Read "Sangam & Friends" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
July 24, 2026

With the release of Sangam & Friends, saxophonist-flutist Charles Lloyd pays homage to his kindred spirit and longtime collaborator, tabla master Zakir Hussain. Not that any reaffirmation was necessary based on their prior efforts together, but this album vividly depicts the deep musical affinity between the two extraordinary musicians as well as their sympathetic associates. The album is built around studio recordings made in 2009 for a project that was never completed. Combined with live performances by the ...

Album Review

Shakti: Mind Explosion

Read "Mind Explosion" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
August 4, 2025

This is the end--the final recording from arguably the greatest of genre-busting bands. A celebration, not only of Shakti's 50th anniversary tour in 2023 but of an entire career--one that began in 1973, when John McLaughlin and Ustad Zakir Hussain first jammed in New York's Greenwich Village. By embracing Indian Carnatic and Hindustani traditions--fused with McLaughlin's jazz DNA--Shakti broke down musical boundaries, and by extension, cultural and social boundaries as well. Cherry-picked from multiple shows, these six tracks ...

Radio & Podcasts

Zakir Hussain, Billy Mohler & Random Pickin’s

by Maurice Hogue
January 20, 2025

This is the second 3-hour holiday joint with music selected from newer releases back to some archival stuff and lots in between. Sampled new releases include music from bassist Billy Mohler and a new quartet featuring guitarist Jeff Parker, Italy's BSDE 4Tet, Finnish pianist Joona Toivanen's trio, and some archival music from Minneapolis/Los Angeles bassist and radio host Richard Paske. There's also a humble tribute to the recently passed tabla master and huge musical influence, Zakir Hussain. I've had the ...

Play This!

Remembering Zakir Hussain: Making Music

by Ian Patterson
December 19, 2024

It is with great sadness that All About Jazz notes the passing of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, who died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on Sunday, 15 December. He was 73. A virtuoso with few peers, Hussain dazzled diverse audiences throughout the world, by dint of his collaborations with musicians across musical genres. Born in Mumbai, India, on 9 March 1951, Hussain learned tabla from his father, the great Ustad All Rakha Qureshi, accompanist to Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan ...

Album Review

Bela Fleck: As We Speak

Read "As We Speak" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
December 29, 2023

As We Speak is an emphatic continuation of banjoist Bela Fleck's eclectic adventures dating back to his high school days. It is thus only fitting that this LP's title alludes to the ongoing artistic process wherein creativity can ensue, virtually non-stop, no matter what other dialogue(s) might be going on at the time. In fact, the trio of Fleck, tabla master Zakir Hussain and bassist Edgar Meyer have collaborated in the past--see The Melody of Rhythm (Koch, 2009). ...

Album Review

Shakti: This Moment

Read "This Moment" reviewed by Geno Thackara

by Geno Thackara
July 7, 2023

The Shakti of This Moment is essentially the Shakti of all its moments--a natural fusion bridging jazzy interplay with the forms and rhythms of Hindustani carnatic music, even if the sound is leagues away from the all-acoustic wildfire that first singed countless ears with the live Shakti with John McLaughlin (Columbia, 1976). The group's unexpected reemergence after never-mind-how-many decades comes with a share of surprises, from touches of vaguely reed-like MIDI guitar to the presence of a co-lead violin for ...