At the 2024 Grammys, Hussain earned his first honour for best global music album for ‘This Moment’ as part of the fusion music group Shakti, which includes founding member British guitarist John McLaughlin, as well as vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram.He later won two other awards for the best global music performance for ‘Pashto’ and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for ‘As We Speak’, along with flautist Rakesh Chaurasia, American banjo player Bela Fleck and American bassist Edgar Meyer.In January last year, the Shakti quintet reunited for a world tour in India to much excitement from fans.Other than Shakti, Hussain also contributed to many groundbreaking collaborations, including Masters of Percussion, Planet Drum and Global Drum Project with Mickey Hart, Tabla Beat Science, Sangam with Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland, CrossCurrents with Dave Holland and Chris Potter, in trio with Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer, and, most recently, with Herbie Hancock.Hussain composed three concertos.His third, the first-ever concerto for tabla and orchestra, was premiered in India in September 2015, by the Symphony Orchestra of India, in Europe and the UK in 2016, and in the US in April, 2017.The composer who travelled and performed all across the globe had reservations against performing at private gatherings and disliked latecomers.He was also very vocal in his views.In a conversation with author Nasreen Munni Kabir as written in her book ‘Zakir Hussain: A Life in Music’, Hussain said a private gathering, corporate events or weddings are not places where music should be heard.”Those are places where people come to socialize, to drink and perhaps have a meal. That’s not the way music should be heard. For me, it’s the concert hall or the theatre-people take their seats, the hall darkens and we musicians take our place,” he said.Hussain would ask the organisers to close the doors once the performance begins and not allow latecomers.Then there was the man himself.His broad smile, boyish good looks and curly locks keeping rhythm with his fingers gave him a distinctive star persona that sometimes went beyond his music.
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