This was one of the greatest days of my life! No kidding!

So, before we start, if you don’t know who Zakir Hussain is, you should look him up.

Here you go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakir_Hussain_(musician)

In brief, he is a Tabla virtuoso, a composer, a teacher who’s been awarded multiple cultural honors all over the world. He is, in my personal estimation as well as that of many others, one of the most accomplished musicians—ever. I’d been a huge fan of Zakir Hussain since I first heard him with John McLaughlin’s group, Shakti, in the late 1970s, so when I was offered this shoot for Modern Drummer I jumped on it.

We set up in the offices of his management company and over the course of the next few hours, I photographed Zakir while he was being interviewed.

Zakir and writer Michael Parillo discussed particulars of Hindustani music and specific performance techniques. They graciously allowed me to interrupt their conversation with an occasional question! I learned more about indian classical music that afternoon than I had in years of private study! Concepts that I had thought I had understood gelled in a new way. Zakir was a natural—no, a compulsive teacher. I felt like he was sharing secret information with us!

Michael wrapped up his interview and I got the few remaining shots I had blocked out. We headed down the elevators, out onto the sweltering streets of New York City and made our way into Central Park. I don’t know how to convey how surreal it was to be walking down the street chatting with Zakir Hussain. I guess I was a little starstruck—something that very rarely happens to me, but Zakir was so ebullient and inviting that we had fairly “normal” conversation.

As we entered Central Park, Indian families, recognizing this international star from their homeland, rushed up to Zakir and bent to touch his feet in obeisance. They crowded around us and asked him to pose for photos with their families. He obliged a few and then kindly explained that we were actually working at the moment and requested their consideration.

We continued to shoot for a while in the steamy summer heat and then, quite suddenly, we were done. Zakir had to head back to JFK to catch a flight, so we walked back to the office to get his gear and went our several ways.

I don’t think that I can adequately express the impact this meeting had on me. I better stop here.

I came across this unused portrait while I was preparing this page.