Zakir-bhai was fond of the tonal quality of Kolkata tabla: Prodyut Mukherjee

Indian tabla maestro Zakir Hussain died this week at a San Francisco hospital in the USA succumbing to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis at age 73.

Praying for the peace of his soul, Pt. Prodyut Mukherjee said: "This is one of the saddest days of Indian classical music. The tremendous popularity of the tabla is owing to only Zakir Hussain. He took it everywhere from the USA to Europe and Africa and wherever he would perform, all tickets were usually booked months ahead."

"He was not only a tabla magician, he was a versatile musician. He was a global icon. From tabla to composing music and even acting, he was a true genius," he said.

Recalling his association with the late legend, Mukherjee said: "When I was living in Los Angeles at the young age of 24-25 and conducting tabla classes, I used to visit him in San Francisco and took many tips from him. He was jovial and he used to love every artist and respect them."

"Whenever he was in Kolkata for performances, famous tabla manufacturers used to present him with tablas in his greenroom and he would play them while in the city. He used to praise the tonal quality of the Kolkata tabla and its sweet sound," he said.

"He will always be part of us and generations of table players can learn from his performances available on YouTube," the GiMA award winning percussionist said.