Zakir Hussain, who has died at the far too young age of 73, made a huge contribution to the Indian classical tradition. Just a few examples from my own CD library are the 1993 Royal Albert Hall Concert for Peace with Ravi Shankar, the 1997 concert recording from Stuttgart with sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan, and the 1990 concert in Passaic Valley Auditorium, New Jersey with sarangist Sultan Khan. Elsewhere tributes have lazily centred on Zakir's collaborations with George Harrison and Van Morrison, supplemented by the usual YouTube videos. So I want to highlight two other collaborations which highlight just what a visionary genius Zakir Hussain was. Arguably Zakir's furthest left-field project was Tabla Beat Science with bass guitarist, producer and demolisher of comfort zones Bill Laswell . This collaboration, described by a reviewer as "hard-hitting westernised electric fusion...a cross-cultural technical extravaganza", produced two remarkable CD releases, Tala Mat...
Comments
'Jerry probably meant (charitably) that Britten was a Brit...'
To really work for me the War Requiem needs to be a performamce event in a suitable venue. After all it was written to be performed in a cathedral. I often find conventional concert hall performances a bit sterile.
Colin Davis' 2004 Proms performance was very fine - appropriate venue for the forces, a wonderful conductor, and an electric atmosphere. But I have also heard fine performances outside London in venues such as Ely Cathedral using semi-professional forces.