Ustad Alla Rakha

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Ustad Alla Rakha (April 29, 1919 - February 3, 2000) was a master of the tabla, a classical Hindustani percussion instrument. He is considered one of the greatest tabla players of the 20th century.

[edit] Biography

Ustad Alla Rakha was born as Allarakha Khan on April 29, 1919 at Phagwal village, near Jammu, 80 kms. from Lahore. He became fascinated with the sound and rhythm of the tabla at the age of 12, while staying with his uncle in Gurdaspur. The determined young lad ran away from home, became a disciple of and began studying tabla with Mian Kader Baksh of the Punjab Gharana. By doing this, he was initiated into the world of music. He studied voice and Raag Vidya under Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan of the Patiala Gharana. His regimen of practise and dedication were the stuff of the legend: hours upon hours of hard, disciplined practise cultivating his skills would eventually pay off.

He began his musical career as an accompanist in Lahore and then as an All India Radio staffer in Bombay in 1940, playing the station's first ever tabla solo and elevating the instrument's position in the process. Soon after, he would compose music for a couple of Hindi films from 1943-48. However, he still also played as an accompanist, for soloists like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Allauddin Khan, Vasant Rai and Ravi Shankar. The venerable master achieved world renown as Pandit Ravi Shankar's chief accompanist during his apex in the 1960s, delighting audiences in the West with his percussive wizardry, not only as an uncanny accompanist with flawless timing and sensitivity but also as a soloist where he was a master of improvisation, a profilic composer and an electric showman. The partnership was particularly successful, and his legendary and spellbinding performances with Shankar at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the Woodstock Festival in 1969 served to introduce classical Indian music to general Western audiences. The Ustad popularized the art of tabla, playing across the globe, elevating the status and respect of his instrument. Abbaji (as he was affectionately known) also bridged the gap between Carnatic music and Hindustani music by with both renowned Carnatic musicians and other Hindustani stalwarts.

Leading American percussionists in Rock n' Roll, such as the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart, admired him and studied his technique, benefiting greatly even from single meetings. Hart, a published authority on percussion in world music, said "Allarakha is the Einstein, the Picasso; he is the highest form of rhythmic development on this planet..."

He became a Guru to Yogesh Samsi and his sons Taufiq Qureshi and Fazal Qureshi. His eldest son, Zakir Hussain is also an accomplished tabla virtuoso. He died at 3:30 a.m. on February 3, 2000 at his Simla House residence on Napean Sea Road following a sudden heart attack attributed to death of his daughter, Razia, the evening before his death. He was survived by his wife, Bavi Begum, his three sons, Zakir Hussain, Fazal Qureshi and Taufiq Qureshi, his daughter Khurshida Qureshi and nine grandchildren.