Two Gharanas, One Musician - Shahbaz Hussain (Talk)

How three legendary gurus shaped one of Europe's finest tabla players. Shahbaz Hussain started learning tabla at five, taught by his father, the vocalist Ustad Mumtaz Hussain. He then went on to be taught by Ustad Faiyaz Khan of the Delhi gharana, Ustad Shaukat Hussain Khan of the Punjab gharana, and finally Ustad Allah Rakha — the man behind Ravi Shankar's rhythm section for decades. That dual training shows in how Hussain plays. He's accompanied Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Shahid Parvez, and Ghulam Ali. He leads the fusion group Indus. He teaches across Northern England, and he believes that audiences benefit from understanding how tabla works: what a gharana is, how rhythm operates in Hindustani music and why different schools produce different sounds. In this talk, Hussain shares the stories, lessons and musical thinking he's gathered across three decades of performance and teaching. Please note that seating in the auditorium is unallocated and on a first come, first serve basis. The hour talk is followed by a 30-minute Q&A with the audience.