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A global citizen rooted in Indian ethos, Ustad Zakir Hussain blazed a trail when he carved evocative stories out of the percussive sound of the humble drum set creating music to bind a fractious world in harmony. His conversational style buzzed with a spark of spontaneity. Natural flow defined his music and personality. Mr. Hussain would impress the purists, enthral the seekers of world music, and handhold the fans of cinematic music into his creative ecstasy with equal felicity. Like his carefully designed free-flowing hairstyle, the versatile artist would execute complex rhythms, intricate patterns, and nuanced dynamics and move on to items like the sound of traffic signals and deer’s walk without a pause. In tune with technology, he experimented with frequencies to highlight the subtle shades of the instrument to establish that tabla is not just a rhythmic instrument but also has a distinct melodic quality. Ustad Alla Rakha, credited with taking Indian classical to foreign shores along with Pandit Ravi Shankar believed that every instrument has a distinct spirit. Mr. Hussain befriended the tabla at the age of three and by the time he hit teenage, the instrument had become his muse for life and perhaps an extension of his personality. It came through in his stage performances when his demeanour switched between a devotional artist and a rock musician. After watching him play, one couldn’t see playing tabla as a chore in classical music. Mr. Hussain took his father’s legacy to the next level by adding a touch of showmanship and expanding the riches he inherited from the Punjab gharana. A keen learner and listener, Mr. Hussain was like a responsive satellite in orbit as an accompanist, shone like a blazing star in his solos, and reserved the adventurous streak of a meteor for creating fusion music. A child prodigy, Mr. Hussain was not regimented by his teacher-father. He was allowed to develop wings and explore new shores. By 19, Mr. Hussain was teaching at the University of Washington before joining Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s music college in San Francisco where he met his soulmate Antonia Minnecola. Another fortuitous meeting in New York led to a lifelong bond with the iconic English guitarist John McLaughlin. Their friendship led to the formation of the groundbreaking Shakti band in 1973 which included violinist L. Shankar and percussionist T.H. Vinayakram. They blended Hindustani and Carnatic classical music with Western jazz influences. Mr. Hussain’s desire to experiment led to rewarding collaborations with George Harrison, Irish singer Van Morrison, American percussionist Mickey Hart, Latin Jazz percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo, and Jerry Garcia, the lead vocalist, and guitarist of the Grateful Dread. He accompanied his father contemporaries Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan and shared a special bond with santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, flautist Hari Prasad Chaurasia, and sarangi stalwart Ustad Sultan Khan. Their jugalbandis would start as melodic banter and then turn meditative. Fusion was never exotic for Mr. Hussain as he had grown up listening to stories of how Amir Khusrau blended the Indian traditions of Dhrupad and Haveli sangeet with Sufi Qaul to create Khayal . As a young musician, he saw his father and colleagues contributing to Hindi film music that liberally drew from diverse musical streams. Mr. Hussain had his brush with film music when he played tabla for Laxmikant Pyarelal’s maiden venture Parasmani . Later he composed music for Ismail Merchant’s films like Muhafiz , Aparna Sen’s Mr. And Mrs. Iyer , Rahul Dholakia’s Parzania, and Nandita Das’s Manto . The meaningful sound of his tabla lent layers to storytelling in international productions like Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and recently Dev Patel’s Monkey Man . He also acted in Merchant-Ivory productions like Heat and Dust and Sai Paranjpye’s Saaz . However, it was a television commercial that made him a household figure in the late 1980s when he brought classical music to the mainstream by promoting a tea brand by playing tabla at the Taj Mahal. The combination of “ Wah Taj !” and young Mr. Hussain’s curly locks and charming smile accompanied by the resonance of his playing ensured brand immortality. Fame didn’t diminish his humility and age didn’t wilt his curiosity. Music was an endless journey for Mr. Hussain. Every time someone would toss the word perfection, he would riposte, “I haven’t played good enough to quit.” Published - December 17, 2024 03:23 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit music / classical musicAs Donald Trump steps up his tariff threats against China, Beijing is moving to beat the next U.S. president to the punch with its own restrictions and get Washington to the negotiating table ahead of a full-blown trade war, analysts say. Armed with the lessons of the last trade war during Trump's first term, China is seeking to amass bargaining chips to kick off talks with a new U.S. administration on contentious aspects of bilateral ties, including trade and investment, and science and technology. It is also concerned about the harmful effects of additional tariffs on its already fragile economy. Last week, China launched a probe into U.S. chip giant Nvidia over what it claimed were suspected antitrust violations, which follows its ban on U.S.-bound exports of rare minerals. "We have to look at this as the opening bid in what will likely ultimately turn into a negotiation with the U.S. rather than just an imposition of tariffs and everyone walks away," HSBC's Chief Asia Economist Fred Neumann said. China is better prepared to deal with almost any tariffs, short of an "Armageddon announcement" of a 60% tariff on all Chinese goods, said George Magnus, research associate at Oxford University's China Centre. The world's second-largest economy now globally dominates sectors such as electric vehicles and green energy, and has less need for the Boeing jets and large gasoline-fueled cars it bought back in 2017, having found substitutes such as Airbus airplanes and its own Comac C919. But China is far from self-sufficient. A new trade war with the world's biggest economy would still hurt China more, analysts say, as Washington can levy ever-larger import duties on its goods and further rip China from its supply chains. China still needs to import strategic materials from the U.S. such as advanced microchips and other high-tech equipment and counts on U.S. consumers to buy its goods, given an increasingly pessimistic global trade outlook and weak domestic consumer demand. Beijing wants to sit down with Trump before he places more curbs on U.S. high-tech exports and to secure the renewal of the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement, said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for the Asia Pacific at Natixis. The agreement, which enables scientific collaboration between the two countries, lapsed in August and negotiations over its renewal are unlikely to be completed before Trump's Jan 20 inauguration. While China's Huawei has heavily invested in its advanced chip-making capabilities, their commercial viability remains unclear, she added, incentivizing China's negotiators to sit down with their U.S. counterparts to strike a deal ensuring a steady supply of American-made chips. ART OF THE DEAL Beijing took two years before it agreed to buy an extra $200 billion in American goods and services, per the terms of the "Phase One" agreement which ended the first trade war. This time, China has new carrots to dangle, such as increasing purchases of oil and liquefied natural gas, as the U.S. is currently pumping out more than it can consume. "Trump bragged on the campaign trail: 'Drill baby, drill,' so (he) will need the demand support," said Bo Zhengyuan, a Shanghai-based partner at consultancy Plenum. Given the increasing restrictions on the export of chips, agricultural goods, commodities and energy are among the items the U.S. can still sell to China, Bo said. China's commerce ministry said it was open to engaging and communicating with the economic and trade teams of the Trump administration, when asked for comment. But Beijing also has sticks to beat Washington with, if the U.S. side feels China's failure to meet its previous purchase commitments means it will gain more from tariffs than talks. U.S. firms are already feeling the squeeze, said Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. "U.S. companies and other foreign companies have really been concerned about whether they actually have access to this market," Hart said. "Can we even sell into China anymore? Is there an outright ban on us?" Business sentiment among U.S. firms in China is at its lowest since 1999, according to a September survey by the American Chamber's Shanghai chapter. There are also non-economic factors at play. Trump has pledged additional tariffs of 10% on Chinese goods to push Beijing to do more to stop fentanyl flows into the U.S. "Using political justifications for the imposition of trade restrictions ultimately makes the tensions much more intractable," said HSBC's Neumann. The fentanyl tariffs also mirror China's import curbs on trading partners that displease Beijing over issues such as human rights, Taiwan and the South China Sea. "It's taking a leaf out of China's manual of coercion," Magnus said. "I think they would see it as a slap in the face."
AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EST
Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC’s flagship dance competition that the UK has taken to its hearts since hitting the screens in 2004, relied on Shure to deliver outstanding audio and ensure that the dazzling performances could be enjoyed by its millions of viewers. Filmed at Elstree Film Studios, Strictly Come Dancing features celebrities paired with professional dancers competing against each other in a range of dance styles. Behind the glamorous facade of sequined costumes, dramatic performances and music lies an intricate technical landscape in which audio technology plays a crucial role. Terry Tew Sound and Light (TTSL) opted to deploy Shure’s Axient Digital Wireless System for the show. The AV solutions provider's head of RF, Jonathan Edwards, says: “Elstree Film Studios, with its multiple stages and studios, presents unique RF spectrum challenges which can be further exacerbated when a touring artist comes with their own touring sound system." TTSL's technical team provided more than 72 receiver channels and 18 in-ear monitors for each show to manage the significant challenges posed by such a sophisticated audio set-up. The environment, saturated with LED screens and multiple broadcasting systems, creates a complex electromagnetic landscape that demands superior wireless solutions, making antenna placement, cable loss and gain make-up crucial. The wireless set-up included an array of Shure equipment including AD4D two-channel digital wireless receivers, Axient digital handheld microphones, Axient Digital AD600 Spectrum Manager, and PSM1000 in-ear monitoring system. Richard Hawkins, RF tech on the show for TTSL, says the AD600 Spectrum Manager and Shure’s Wireless Workbench software providing high-level monitoring and management capabilities during every show. "Our ability to scan and compare RF environments across dress rehearsals and live shows keeps us consistently ahead of potential issues, and being able to monitor the incoming RF from one screen makes it simple," he adds. The integration of WAVETOOL software enables real-time monitoring of battery levels, RF status and link quality, allowing immediate technical adjustments throughout the production. When the TTSL team tested the new PSM in-ear monitoring system on the show, they were impressed by the coverage. “It was incredible how positive the coverage was," says Hawkins. "The noise floor was better than anything else we’ve heard in the Strictly studio.” Edwards, meanwhile, commends Shure's training programmes, which empower technical teams to navigate increasingly complex wireless landscapes. “Their educational seminars have become instrumental in ‘demystifying the dark arts of RF’, ensuring that productions like Strictly Come Dancing can push the boundaries of live broadcasting technology,” he says.China Moves Beyond Foam by Phasing Out PFOS in Firefighting