Album of the day: Zakir Hussein, “Making Music”

Zakir Hussein
“Making Music” (ECM CD 1349)

Son of Alla Rakha (musical partner of Ravi Shankar and probably the greatest Tabla player ever) Zakir Hussein has in turn become an absolute protagonist of this percussion instrument which is extremely difficult to play, requiring incredible coordination of hands and fingers as well as a great dynamic and polyrhythmic ability which in the Indian musical tradition gives life to real conversations with the other instruments and is not limited to a supporting role.
but becoming one of the leading voices of this style.

Together with the equally great musician Hariprasad Chaurasia, a virtuoso flutist who performs on several instruments on the album, Hussein found himself at the ECM studios in Oslo in 1986 together with two jazz musicians, guitarist John McLaughlin and saxophonist Jan Garbarek, to give life to this “Making Music” whose final result must be considered one of the most fascinating encounters between East and West.

McLaughlin is certainly not new to the encounter with Indian music, just think of his albums with the group Shakti (of which
Hussein is part) and Garbarek is no stranger to this millenary musical culture, especially in the use of microtonal and breathing techniques that have always been present in Indian music. The general atmosphere is one of great inner tranquility even in the moments that see Hussein’s Tabla engaged in unbridled virtuosic passages played at great speed that sometimes make one think of two performers playing at the same time.

The instrumental mastery of the four is such that the technical prowess is almost taken for granted and used solely to serve the musical intensity, reaching truly remarkable moments in the album.
McLaughlin’s acoustic guitar alternates sweet arpeggiated passages with solos that are among the best of his career, which avoid the usual boasting to place themselves with sensitive relish in listening to the other three.

Garbarek (as often happens to him on ECM records) is mixed too loudly compared to the others and despite the melodic beauty of many of his interventions this lack of sonic balance sometimes produces a sense of unease that leads to lowering the volume.
The compositions (all beautiful) are almost entirely signed by Hussein, who also proves to be a quality author.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical subjects.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: Un disco per ogni giorno dell’anno” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.