Cal Performances presents Zakir Hussain & the Masters of Percussion
2014-03-23
Zellerbach Hall Auditorium
U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA
7:00 PM, Sunday, March 23, 2014

[7:m PM lights down, announcements]

1. [7:m PM] ?claypot
2. [7:m PM] saranji?
3. [7:m PM] ?add zakir
4. [7:m PM] ?antonia
5. [7:m PM] ?zakir hamming it up
6. [7:m PM] ?dholak
7. [7:m PM] ?dholak + zakir
   [set ends 8:12 PM]

[8:30 PM lights down, announcements]

1. [9:m PM] dhol solo
2. [8:m PM] smith hi hat solo
3. [8:m PM] add kanjira
4. [8:m PM] kanjira solo
5. [9:m PM] sitar
6. [9:m PM] add zh
7. [9:m PM] add all
   [show ends 10:m PM, no encore]

• Deepak Bhatt: dhol;
• Vijay Chavan: dholki;
• Zakir Hussain: tabla, percussion, vox;
• Dilshad Khan: sarangi;
• Niladri Kumar: sitar;
• Antonia Minnecola: Kathak dance;
• Steve Smith: drums, percussion;
• Selvaganesh Vinayakram: kanjira, ghatam.

It's been interesting to hear the evolution of this project over time. My recollection is that each tour has grown looser and less structured - perhaps recognizing that the audience has embraced the motivating conceit, and thus needs less introduction to make sense out of things. I appreciate the importance of leaving room for spontanaeity, but at the same time, offering the listener some sort of structural references can be quite helpful in giving us something to hang onto in the face of too much that is unfamiliar.

To be much more specific in my criticism, I was disappointed that whatever plan of order was followed (or abandoned) for the show, NOTHING was shared with us about it. Knowing that the tradition of Indian music is largely based on solo or minimally accompanied intrumental improvisation doesn't give enough context to understand why the show might have been arranged as it was. Who knows, maybe they simply drew straws just before curtain time!

Highlights for me were the saranji segment from the first set, and the Steve Smith and sitar segments in the second. Kind of odd for me to be highlighting the non-drum portions of a percussion-focused show, huh? Guess that hints more at my current listening preferences than anything else. Reexpressing myself regarding this point, I guess I'd say that the novelty of these drumcentric concerts has worn off, so the virtuousity exhibited by Zakir and his cohorts just doesn't grab my attention the way it used to. Point of corroboration: Steve Smith was one of the new guys on this tour, so I found his performance to be attention-grabbing and astounding. As Zakir said, “truly, a wizard with two sticks!”

Andrew Gilbert's promo article for the East Bay Express