Zakir Hussain - Distant Kin

Description

In January 2011, Zakir Hussain traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, at the invitation of the Scottish Arts Council, to conduct a week-long collaboration betwen Indian and Celtic musicians.The strength of connection was immediately apparent as good times and deep sharing ensued. Friendships were forged as was deep respect and reverence for each other's traditions. For the musicians, it was as if long-lost cousins had been discovered as they enjoyed sharing melodies with similar scales and songs steeped in romance and myth. For Zakir, the experience brought back early childhood memories of music played in the streets of Bombay at festival times, a hybrid music formed during the British Raj and very different from Classical tradition he was learning at home. The processional bands included instruments which were intriguing, with bagpipes, horns, Pathan dhol and bodhran-like frame drums among them. When Zakir arrived in Glasgow and enjoyed the first musical meetings with players from the Celtic tradition, he couldn't help but wonder, "What took so long?". Eager to continue the musical discovery and camaraderie, Zakir led a North American tour in the Spring of 2015, ending with two nights in early April at San Francisco's SFJazz Center. This recording contains selections from those concerts.