Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain belonged to which gharana?

Explanation

Ustad Zakir Hussain (1951-2024) was the most famous tabla player in the world. He belonged to the Punjab gharana of tabla, which he learnt from his father, the great tabla maestro Ustad Alla Rakha.

The Punjab gharana is one of the six main gharanas (schools) of tabla playing, along with Delhi, Ajrada, Lucknow, Farrukhabad and Banaras. It developed from the tradition of the pakhawaj (a barrel-shaped drum) and is known for its powerful, resonant strokes and its complex rhythmic compositions. Alla Rakha (1919-2000) was its leading exponent in the 20th century, and he became world-famous as the accompanist of the sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar.

Zakir Hussain was born in Mumbai and began playing the tabla as a child. He became a sought-after accompanist for the greatest musicians of India, and he also worked with musicians from around the world. He co-founded the fusion group Shakti with the British guitarist John McLaughlin and the violinist L. Shankar in the 1970s. He won the Grammy Award in 2009 for the album "Global Drum Project", together with Mickey Hart, Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo, and won three Grammy Awards in 2024, including one for Shakti's album "This Moment". He also composed music for films. He received the Padma Shri (1988), the Padma Bhushan (2002) and the Padma Vibhushan (2023). He died in San Francisco on 15 December 2024.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Banaras gharana of tabla is linked with players such as Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Pandit Anokhe Lal Mishra and Pandit Samta Prasad.
• ✗Farrukhabad gharana is linked with players such as Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa.
• ✗Lucknow gharana of tabla is linked with players such as Ustad Afaq Hussain.