Tabla will never sound like this ever again: Shankar Mahadevan remembers Zakir Hussain

New Delhi: Zakir Hussain was a rare combination of knowledge, expertise and stage presence, says Shankar Mahadevan who remembers his Shakti bandmate for being the "biggest inspiration" in his musical career.

It was just earlier this year that they were celebrating their Grammy win on the international stage for their collaboration on This Moment, which won the best global music album award.

Hussain, credited as the musician who gave tabla a global identity, died on Monday morning in a San Francisco hospital in the US.

Mahadevan, 57, said it is hard to believe that he is gone.

"I have lost somebody who's been my biggest inspiration, a teacher and a human being who has influenced my music. He played a huge role in my musical career. He was the greatest in the world.

"I've never seen a rhythm artist with so much musicality and there will never be one more like this. Either there will be knowledge or expertise... It is impossible for an artist to be born of this calibre or to have knowledge, expertise and stage presence. Tabla is never going to sound like this ever again," Mahadevan told PTI in an interview.

The musician said they had already planned a series of shows in India and the UAE but that was not to be.

"This is a loss that is going to be felt for a long time because he was actively playing and he was not a musician who (had retired). We had concerts planned for next month... The live album of Shakti is being mixed and mastered now and we were going to release it soon," he added.

The composer-vocalist, who credited Hussain for bringing him into Shakti, said he has been fortunate to have collaborated and toured extensively with the tabla maestro.

"I am very lucky that I got to live with him, eat with him and share moments... He has given us so much in the past few years to celebrate it in the years to come." Shakti formed in 1973 with John McLaughlin, violin player L. Shankar, Hussain and ghatam player TH "Vikku" Vinayakram as founding members.

In 1997, McLaughlin and Hussain brought Vinayakram's son and ghatam player V Selvaganesh, mandolin player U Shrinivas and Mahadevan into the fold of Shakti.

Such was the mastery of Hussain on tabla that he would always surprise not just the audience but even bandmates, recalled Mahadevan.

"We used to do 30 concerts in 40 days. After a point, if you listen to a person again and again, you start predicting things, but he used to always surprise me... My association has been for over 30 years with him, out of which 25 years we have toured extensively." He also credited Hussain for encouraging musicians like him, Niladri Kumar, Selvaganesh, U Srinivas, and Ranjit Barot when they were just starting out.

"You learn so much from just being with people like Zakir bhai. These people, they don't die. They are beyond regular ways of living. You learn from people like him how to remain humble.

"You learn how to encourage other artists and put them forward while you remain in the backdrop, because you are not insecure about what kind of artist you are. There are innumerable artists whom he gave wings to fly," the 57-year-old Grammy winner said.

In February, Shakti won the 2024 Grammy Award for best global music album for This Moment. The album also features violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan.

Besides his award for Shakti, Hussain won two other Grammys -- the best global music performance for Pashto and best contemporary instrumental album for As We Speak.