With Ravi Shankar, he took Indian music to the world
The name of Alla Rakha, tabla player, who has died aged 81, will always be twinned with that of Ravi Shankar, sitar player. For decades they spread the gospel of Indian music far and wide, and Ravi Shankar, a year younger than Rakha, always acknowledged the supreme artistry of the percussionist whose wizardry on the tabla had become legendary. Both men addressed each other as bhai sahib (resp- ected brother). Audiences the world over flocked to their concerts in expectation of the savaal-javaab (question-answer) sessions, when sitar and tabla conducted complex dialogues, and the larant (fighting or competition) passages. Each explosion of improvisation ended in the satisfying flourish of the sum , the beat of completion - a finale invariably greeted with a storm of ecstatic applause. Alla Rakha, who had the honorific ustad (master), reserved for Muslim maestros of the north Indian or Hindustani style, was naturally possessed of panache, virtuosity and attack. But he could also coax the most elusive and delicate nuances from his drums. The tabla, whose range is about an octave, is, in fact, a collective term for two drums: the smaller being the right-hand tabla proper, and the larger being the bass drum, called the banya and played with the left hand. Rakha explored new and exciting percussive possibilities and influenced musicians in many countries. Classical artists and rock stars alike sat at his feet to learn the intricacies of Hindustani time measures, or taals , with each taal having a set number of beats divided into bars. A composer and arranger of long standing, Alla Rakha (under his full name AR Qureshi) provided the music for more than two dozen Indian films, and it was because of his connection with the Bombay film industry that he made the city (now renamed Mumbai) his home. He was, however, born in Jammu, then ruled by the maharaja of Kashmir. His family were Muslim Dogras (though most of the Dogra clan were Hindus). Their mother tongue was Dogri and, even after having lived in polyglot Mumbai for more than half a century, Alla Rhaka was most at ease when conversing with Dogri-speaking friends. The British categorised the Dogras as a martial race since their two chief occupations were agriculture and soldiering. Music and any kind of artistic activity were beyond their ken and, in any case, were looked down upon as fit only for kanjars , low-caste entertainers. Although Alla Rakha's father was prepared to tolerate amateur acting, he drew the line at learning to sing or to play an instrument. Matters came to a head and the son left home at the age of 15 to take music lessons under Lal Mohamed, a disciple of Ustad Kadir Baksh, head of the Punjab gharana (or tradition) of tabla playing. In time, Alla Rakha found his way to Lahore, where he met Kadir Baksh himself. So impressed was the ustad by the young Dogra that he took him under his wing. For a number of years, as was the custom, Alla Rakha, endured the harshest discipline, but eventually began to get work at the Lahore radio station. His apprenticeship was over. Ustad Kadir Baksh, who had no son, formally adopted Alla Rakha and designated him as the next head of the Punjab gharana . Later, he moved to All-India Radio in Delhi, and then to Bombay.
His partnership with Ravi Shankar began in the early 1950s. They officially represented India at many international music festivals and conferences, and, in the era of flower-power and the Beatles, their names became synonymous with Indian music. Although Alla Rakha remained within the Indian classical tradition, his influence made the tabla the percussion instrument of choice to express mood and atmosphere in film soundtracks, commercials and western popular music.
Edited by vinnie-thepooh - 18 years ago
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