Zakir Hussain

The work of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain has been featured in numerous soundtracks, the most famous of which is Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam epic 'Apocalypse Now' which received an Academy Award nomination for the soundtrack. Born in Mumbai, India, Hussain was schooled from the age of three in the art of Pakhawaj (the traditional Indian two headed, barrel-shaped drum) by his father. By eleven he was performing and touring and by the time he turned professional he was regularly making more than 150 public appearances a year. As an established master of is craft he was invited to participate in the percussion extravaganza 'Planet Drum' fronted by the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart. Hussain played on the album 'The Global Drum Project' and toured with Hart's ensemble. The critically-acclaimed album earned Hart and his colleagues a Grammy Award in the newly established category of Best Contemporary World Music and was the first of a number of successful collaborations between Hussain and Hart. During Hussain's long and successful career he has recorded more than 60 albums and appeared in a number of films and is widely acknowledged as one of the world's leading tabla players and percussionists.

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