Ustad Zakir Hussain performs jugalbandi with santoor king Pandit Shibkumar

Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain performed ‘jugalbandi’ with santoor king Pandit Shibkumar Sharma at the ‘Swara Samrat Festival’ here.

“I am dedicating the performance to Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Saab and the discerning audience of Kolkata which had been applauding kalakars for ages,” the Padmashree, Padma Bibhusan recipient said before performing in front of a big audience said.

Hussain performed in a 2-hour long jugalbandi with Pt Shibkumar Sharma.

Among the august audiences were percussionist Pt Bickram Ghosh and Pt Tanmoy Bose, both to perform tomorrow in the two-day festival of classical music and dance.

“Hearing the names of Pt Shib Kumar Sharma and Zakir Hussein since my childhood days. Both are inspirations. It is a wonderful feeling to be here,” Bickram said.

“We are proud that Zakirji had been performing in this festival for consecutive years, among the very select places all over the country. This shows his love for this city and musical heritage,” Tanmoy said.

“Ustad Zakir Hussain (Tabla) has been playing in Kolkata only for the Swara Samrat Festival and apart from here he had not performed in any other festival in the country for more than two consecutive seasons,” eminent classicist and livewire beind the show Pt Tejendra Narayan Majumder said.

There will also be names like Sujata Mahapatra (Odissi), Pandit Rajan Mishra and Pandit Sajan Mishra (Vocal Duet) with Subhen Chatterjee (Tabla) & Sanatan Goswami (Harmonium), Pandit Partho Sarathy (Sarod) with Pandit Bickram Ghosh (Tabla), Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee (Sitar) with Abhijit Banerjee (Tabla), Ustad Rashid Khan (Vocal) with Pandit Tanmoy Bose (Tabla) and Pandit Jyoti Goho (Harmonium).

The Festival is aimed at showcasing the best of Indian Classical Music and Dance to the discerning Kolkata audience who have always rooted for different genres of classical music, Pt Majumder said.