Indian musicians at Grammys; Shankar Mahadevan, Zakir Hussain and Rakesh Chaurasia with Grammy wins

LOS ANGELES: Singer Shankar Mahadevan, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain and flute expert Rakesh Chaurasia made India proud at the 66th Grammy Awards. Zakir shared three and Chaurasia two Grammys each.

The Grammy for Best Global Music Album went to Shakti's 'This Moment', a fusion band featuring Shankar and Zakir. Released in June 2023, 'This Moment' consists of eight songs composed by John McLaughlin, L Shankar, Ustad Zakir Hussain, V Selva Ganesh and Ganesh Rajagopalan. Shakti was founded in 1973 by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The band is releasing an album after a gap of 46 years.

Other awards for Zakir Hussain include Best Global Music Performance and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. Rakesh Chaurasia, who dazzles with bansuri and Indian bamboo flute, shared the honours with Zakir in both categories. "Pashto" composed by Zakir, Chaurasia, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer won Best Global Music Performance. "As We Speak" featuring the song won Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.

Pashto's achievement is surpassing Falguni-Gaurav Shah's song 'Abundance in Millets' featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech.