We felt very glad when my son Raghu told me that he has reserved seats for us to attend a Duet by Dr Zakir Hussain , the Maestro with Joshua Redman ,the Saxophone giant on 17 September organized by SF-JAZZ Center at the Miner Auditorium , San Francisco. It was the third time that me and my wife were attending a live performance by the Maestro [ see link to my blog of 2010 below] but the very first time outside India in a fusion music duet . We gathered from the souvenir issued by the organizers that these two great artists collaborated and performed earlier during this year when the JAZZ Center honored Dr Zakir Hussain with the SF-JAZZ Lifetime Achievement Award.
The program commenced at 7 PM sharp to a full house. Joshua Redman started the proceedings with a solo and Zakir Hussain warmed up to Joshua’s tenor and soprano saxophone with his own beats with the ensemble of percussion instruments with great dexterity . The many duets as well as solo renderings which followed for almost two hours took the audience to a zone of bliss unparalleled in the realms of instrumental music. While Redman is young and a great performer , Dr Hussain whom we heard first time in 1994 still retains his great skills and age has not in any way slowed him down. What caught our attention was the sincere humility and mutual appreciation demonstrated by both artists during and after the performance. [ See the photo taken at the end of the program ] . Overall , another great evening to cherish !
A Performance that takes you to a Zone of Bliss – Ustad Zakir Hussain – 