September 25, 2001
Contact: Susan Gwynne
(805) 893-2098
e-mail: gwynne-s@sa.ucsb.edu
Shujaat Khan and Zakir Hussain,
Indian classical music masters,
perform at UCSB Campbell Hall
Summary Facts:
- Shujaat Khan and Zakir Hussain perform at UCSB
- Two of the most acclaimed North Indian classical musicians
- Sitar and tabla virtuosos
- Wednesday, November 7
- 8 pm / UCSB Campbell Hall
- Co-presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and Raagmala
- General: $28/$25, UCSB students: $19/$16
- Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535
Shujaat Khan and Zakir Hussain, two of the most innovative and intuitive North Indian classical musicians, will perform a scintillating musical collaboration on Wednesday, November 7 at 8 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. Sitar player Khan, seventh in an unbroken familial line that has produced numerous musical masters, plays in the style known as gayaki ang, imitative of the subtleties of the human voice. Tabla player Hussain, the foremost disciple of his legendary father Ustad Allarakha, has helped popularize the tabla worldwide through his collaborations with musicians such as Tito Puente, Van Morrison and the Hong Kong Symphony. This concert will be a rare opportunity to see and hear two musicians steeped in tradition yet willing to explore new musical worlds.
At the age of three Shujaat Khan began playing a specially made sitar and at the age of six he began a public performance career that has taken him around the world. More recently he was a featured artist in the Music Festival of India, the all-star event celebrating 50 years of India’s independence. Since 1997 Khan has collaborated with Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor in the group Ghazal; their improvisations recreate lost music of the Silk Road. Billboard Magazine has called the duo “one of the most vital acts in world music.” Khan divides his time between New Delhi and Los Angeles, where he teaches Indian classical music at UCLA.
Zakir Hussain also was a child prodigy, touring by the age of twelve. Living in the United States since 1970, he has forged an international career noted for far-reaching collaboration. Most prominently he formed one of the first world music super-groups, Shakti, with guitarist John McLaughlin, violinist L. Shankar and percussionist T.H. Vinayakram in 1975. He has also composed and recorded numerous film soundtracks including Bernardo Bertolucci’s Little Buddha and Shaji Karun’s The Last Dance (Vanaprastham). On Sunday, November 4 at 7:30 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall UCSB Arts & Lectures will screen The Last Dance, a film about forbidden love and the South Indian (Kerala) art form of Kathakali, which combines dance, music, sung dialogue and pantomime.
On the evening of the performance two events will enhance the concertgoer’s experience. At 6 p.m. the UCSB Faculty Club will serve a savory Indian buffet for $18 a person; reservations must be made by November 1 by calling 893.3096. Then at 7 pm Khan and Hussain will hold a Pre-Concert Meet-the-Artists Discussion, hosted by Professor Scott Marcus, UCSB Department of Music, for ticket holders only.
Arts & Lectures presented Zakir Hussain with his touring band the Rhythm Experience on May 15, 1998. Both Zakir Hussain and Shujaat Khan have visited UCSB as guests of the Department of Music.
Khan and Hussain are presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and Raagmala, an India Association music group that promotes the culture of the Indian subcontinent in the Santa Barbara community. This residency is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment of the Arts, a federal agency.
For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.
Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.