The pre-eminent classical tabla virtuoso of our time, Zakir Hussain was appreciated as one of the world’s most esteemed and influential musicians, one whose mastery of his percussion instrument took it to a new level, transcending cultures and national borders. A child prodigy who began his international touring career by the age of eighteen, Zakir was at the helm of many genre-defying collaborations including Shakti, Remember Shakti, Masters of Percussion, Planet Drum, Tabla Beat Science and Sangam. His first album as a leader, Making Music, was released in 1987.

As a composer, he scored music for numerous feature films and composed three concertos, the most recent enjoying the distinction as first-ever for tabla and orchestra. He was the recipient of countless awards, including two Grammys, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Officier in France’s Order of Arts and Letters, and several honorary doctorates. Voted “Best Percussionist” by both the Downbeat Critics’ Poll and Modern Drummer’s Reader’s Poll over several years, Zakir was honored with SFJazz’s Lifetime Achievement Award at their 2017 Gala for his “unparalleled contribution to the world of music”. In 2022, he was named the Kyoto Prize Laureate in Arts and Philosophy.

He was the founder and president of Moment Records, an independent record label presenting rare live concert recordings of Indian classical music and world music.