Without harmony, we are nothing: Zakir Hussain wins three Grammy awards

LOS ANGELES: The 72-year-old was among the winners in the Best Global Music Performance, Best Contemporary Instrumental Album and Best Global Music Album categories.

Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain made history at the Grammy Awards on Monday, becoming the first Indian to win three of these trophies in a single night.

The 72-year-old was among the winners in the Best Global Music Performance, Best Contemporary Instrumental Album and Best Global Music Album categories.

Hussain now has five of these awards in all, equalling the tallies of the late sitar maestro Ravi Shankar and the master conductor Zubin Mehta; they are all in top spot, incidentally, on the list of Indians with the most Grammy wins.

“Thanks to the academy, thanks to all these great musicians for giving us such beautiful, tight music together. Thank you all,” Hussain, dressed in an embroidered white kurta, said as he accepted the trophy for Best Global Music Performance, in Los Angeles.

That win came for Pashto, written and recorded in collaboration with American banjo player Béla Fleck, American bassist Edgar Meyer and Indian flautist Rakesh Chaurasia. The song pays tribute to the tradition of Indian classical musicians playing with British imperial bands in early-20th-century India.

“One of our members is missing (from the event), Mr Béla Fleck,” Hussain said, in his speech.

“So from him, and from Mr Rakesh Chaurasia, and Mr Edgar Meyer, our deepest thanks. Our families are here and without them, we are nothing. Without love, without music, without harmony, we are nothing”, he added.

Hussain’s second Grammy of the night was for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, which he won alongside Fleck, Meyer and Chaurasia, for the eclectic classical-meets-jazz album, As We Speak.