4th Satguru Jagjit Singh Sangeet Sameelan 22 Nov 2015 – Media reports

(As Reported in Tribune News Service)

Ludhiana, November 23

Music emanating from the percussion prowess of legendary tabla player Ustad Zakir Hussain was for everyone to listen and behold at the auditorium at Bhaini Sahib as he performed along with his brothers Fazal and Taufiq Qureshi. Ustad Zakir Hussain presented a range of mesmerising musical renditions at the two-day Satguru Jagjit Singh Sangeet Sammelan. While he enchanted the audience with gently paced ragas, his dexterity drew applause from the audience several times during the performance.

 Humility and respect to Satguru Humility of Ustad Zakir Hussain and his respect for Satguru was for all to see as he jumped from the stage (not having stairs in front) and knelt before Mata Chand Kaur, wife of Satguru Jagjit Singh, immediately after he saw her. He then climbed back the stage. He said it was only the blessing of the Satguru that he, along with both his brothers, was able to come and perform at Bhaini Sahib to pay a tribute to him. Just before his performance began, the trailer of a documentary on the life of Satguru Jagjit Singh was screened, which concluded with Ustad Zakir Hussain’s quote that very few persons have played a role in all the spheres as Satguru Jagjit Singh, and there has been no parallel to the Satguru in the current times, while hailing his contribution to music.

Jugalbandi of three brothers Ustad Zakir Hussain, along with brothers Fazal Qureshi and Taufiq Qureshi, performed in sync to perfection, drawing frequent applause from the audience. He laughed many a time during the jugalbandi, which showed he was enjoying the performance. But there was distraction, particularly when the trio performed together. due to technical settings in the audio settings. He had to interrupt to tell the technician for keeping the right settings.

Little humour during performance Ustad Zakir Hussain also regaled the audience with his comments. After his solo performance, he said he was like an opening batsman and now it was the turn of his brothers who would play the number two and number three. His comments drew laughter from the audience. Hearing a baby crying, he said the baby was singing beautifully. “Wah, kya baat hai,” he said. He added it reminded him of his granddaughter.

Indian classical music on African instrument The younger brother of Ustad Zakir Hussain, Taufiq, performed on the African percussion instrument, jembe, which most in the audience had never seen or heard of before. His dexterity at playing the Indian classical music on an African instrument was applauded by the audience, both for its novelty and adroitness. Taufiq also impressed everyone by creating music by deftly inhaling and exhaling his breath alone.

Poet Surjit Patar among audience Poet Surjit Patar, Chancellor of Central University of Punjab SS Johl and singer Dev Dildar were among the eminent persons present on the occasion. Patar sang one of his poems. He said people of Punjab were privileged to be listening to the sons of Alla Rakha on its soil. He figuratively said the stream of Gurbani music that began with Guru Nanak’s verses in ragas and Mardana’s rabab now flows closely by Bhaini Sahib, as music has become central to Bhaini Sahib and the words ‘Namdhari’ and ‘sangeet’ have become synonymous to each other.