Charles Lloyd: Homage to Zakir Hussain

A few months after the 2001 death of his lifelong collaborator, Billy Higgins and just weeks after 9/11, Charles Lloyd met with Zakir Hussain at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco to make music together for the first time. The vast cathedral was filled to capacity and the audience was mesmerized by the music created by these two great musicians. A few years later, Lloyd invited Eric Harland to join him and Hussain to perform in a concert that was an homage to his departed musical partner, Master Higgins. Out of that concert, the trio “Sangam,” emerged. “Sangam,”, a Sanskrit word meaning a confluence of rivers and as Lloyd liked to say, they represented the Ganges, the Rio Grande and the mighty Mississippi. 

Charles Lloyd’s Sangam Trio was slated to play again on March 27, opening night for the Big Ears Festival.  Tragically, Ustad Zakir Hussain died on December 15, 2024, taking the world by surprise. For Charles Lloyd it has been an immensely deep personal loss. 

During what was to be the Sangam concert at Big Ears, Lloyd and Harland will now pay homage to their beloved friend and collaborator. In keeping with the exploratory freedom and deep spiritual roots of Sangam, they have invited Bill Frisell, and Harish Raghavan, who have worked with Lloyd, Hussain and Harland at various times and, a special guest, ganavya, who will sing some of the songs that Hussain wrote and sang during his performances with Sangam. This will be an offering of uplift and a celebration of the tremendous legacy of the musical master that was Zakir.