Wednesday, October 26, 2016, 8pm Zellerbach Hall Zakir Hussain, tabla with Niladri Kumar, sitar and special guest Mickey Hart Tonight’s concert will last approximately two hours and will include an intermission. ABOUT THE ARTISTS Tonight’s concert will present an exploration of Arts and Letters. In 2015 he was voted Best Indian music, both ancient and cutting-edge, Percussionist by both the Down bea t Critics’ Poll combining a traditional classical offering with and Modern Drummer ’s Readers’ Poll. a collaborative exploration of the raga and tala As an educator, Zakir Hussain conducts systems. The concert will begin with a rendition many workshops and lectures each year, has of a classical raga performed on sitar by Niladri been in residence at Princeton University and Kumar and accompanied on tabla by Zakir Stanford University, and, in 2015, was ap - Hussain. This piece will begin with a full alaap pointed Regents Lecturer at UC Berkeley. He is by Niladri Kumar in the Hindustani classical the founder and president of Moment Records, tradition, presenting and expounding on the an independent record label presenting rare live raga . The concert will also include a tabla solo concert recordings of Indian classical music and piece by Zakir Hussain, and will conclude with world music. Zakir Hussain was resident artis - a contemporary-style performance based on tic director at SFJazz from 2013 until 2016. the folk melodies of India. Zakir Hussain and Niladri Kumar are delighted to welcome Mickey Niladri Kumar, a renowned, fifth-generation Hart as a special guest at tonight’s concert. sitar player, is an unconventional and rare in - strumentalist, honing a unique repertoire and Zakir Hussain (tabla ) is the pre-eminent clas - deep understanding of traditional and classical sical tabla virtuoso of our time. Considered a styles on the sitar while at the same time bravely national treasure in his native India, he is one reaching out to new, younger audiences. Sym - of the world’s most esteemed and influential pathetic to new trends, he has redefined the way musicians, renowned for his genre-defying col - audiences view Indian classical music through laborations. the invention of his own instrument—an elec - Widely considered a chief architect of the tric sitar that he has called the zitar. contemporary world music movement, Zakir Sound has waves, but Niladri Kumar’s zitar Hussain’s contribution has been unique, with creates “ripples.” The zitar has allowed him to many historic and groundbreaking partner - reach a wider audience, bridging the “age un- ships, including Shakti, Remember Shakti, gap,” as he calls it, where individuals from all Masters of Percussion, the Diga Rhythm Band, walks of life can find a place in his music that Planet Drum, Tabla Beat Science, Sangam with they can call their own. Through these various Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland, in trio with efforts, he has emerged as one of the world finest Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, and most recently, sitar and zitar masters. with Herbie Hancock. The foremost disciple of his father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha, Zakir Mickey Hart is a pivotal innovator, chronicler, Hussain was a child prodigy who began his pro - and influencer in percussion and rhythm. Best fessional career at the age of 12, touring inter - known as a drummer in the renowned expedi - nationally by the age of 18. tion into the soul and spirit of rock and roll, The As a composer, he has scored music for nu - Grateful Dead, the multi-Grammy winner i s also merous feature films, major events, and pro - an energetic painter, accomplished writer, rest - ductions. He has composed two concertos, and less explorer, and an acclaimed expert on the his third, the first-ever concerto for tabla and history and mythology of drums. A true original orchestra, was premiered in India in 2015, was armed with an inventor's audacious curiosity, heard in Europe and the UK earlier this year, Hart seeks to break the rhythm code of the uni - and will be performed in the US next April with verse and investigate its deepest vibrations. the National Symphony Orch estra at Kennedy Center. A Grammy winner, he is the recipient of countless awards and honors, including Padma IMG Artists Bhushan, a National Heritage Fellowship, and www.imgartists.com being named an Officier in France’s Order of www.youtube.com/imgartists PLAYBILL.