Zakir Hussain Concert in Kolkata

Travel Day 887 – Kolkata, INDIA

This day felt at first a little bit empty due to the fact that it was my first day in India without my teacher and without any program, but on the other hand it was the day of the Zakir Hussain concert in Kolkata… : )

Zakir Hussain on Tabla in Kolkata, India

Since the very first day that I came across Tabla people always mentioned the name Zakir Hussain to me. He not only seemed to be the best Tabla player in the world, but he also seemed to be the best known and most respected one. So far I had only seen videos of him on youTube and I was sure that he was a good player, but why he was considered to be the best player in the world was something I wanted to find out for myself…

Obviously a Zakir Hussain Tabla solo concert came to a certain price. All concerts I had been to so far were usually for free, but this two-day concert series was booked out in advance. Zakir Hussain was the final closing act of the whole series and I got lucky that I managed to purchase two tickets online a few days in advance…

Together with a hostel mate we took off for the far south of Kolkata to meet up with some other friends and join the concert. As it turned out, the venue was a stadium like structure set in a park and enclosed by a huge tent. While this location did not seem ideal for a Tabla solo concert, it was still great to see the sold out concert hall with the vast amount of people who had arrived for the closing act, Zakir Hussain…

Actually the previous acts were great already and my friend’s wife was even accompanying an 84-year-old vocalist on stage. But obviously the final act was why most of the people had arrived. As soon as Zakir entered the stage, it was clearly felt what kind of celebrity status he had in India. He was obviously a living legend of classical Indian music and the rock-star of Tabla…

Zakir Hussain Tabla-Show in Kolkata

While all this drama about Zakir Hussain made me rather question if he really would be that good or how he could possibly be better than other great Tabla players I had seen, I soon was able to find out. Yes, indeed he was a really good Tabla player undoubtedly, but what made him stand out for me personally was rather his personality on stage. While all other Tabla players always seemed to take themselves quite seriously, Zakir rather seemed to make a joke here and there…

It really seemed that countless times he would stop to crack a joke, or he made funny faces or gestures while playing. Sometimes he even seemed to tell a little musical story and then play it as announced and the whole Tabla performance was as amazing as it was amusing. I obviously had seen many Tabla concerts before, but Zakir Hussain on stage was clearly the first Tabla-Show that I was able to whitness… : )