Indian artists secured massive wins on the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, bringing dwelling a complete of six Grammys, three of which had been bagged by the legendary tabla participant Zakir Hussain alone. The music awards passed off February 4 on the Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles and was hosted by comic Trevor Noah for the fourth consecutive yr. Shankar Mahadevan and Zakir Hussain’s fusion band Shakti received the Finest International Music Album for This Second, beating competitors from acclaimed releases by musicians of African, Caribbean, and Peruvian origins.
The album incorporates a whole of eight songs created by John McLaughlin (guitar, guitar synth), Zakir Hussain (tabla), Shankar Mahadevan (vocalist), V Selvaganesh (percussionist), and Ganesh Rajagopalan (violinist). Shakti launched This Second on June 30 final yr after a protracted hole of 46 years, with its final studio album, Pure Parts, releasing in 1977. This marks the fifth win for Indian artists on this class (earlier referred to as the Finest World Music Album), with the final win coming in 2013 for Ravi Shankar for his album The Residing Room Periods Pt. 1.
Whereas it’s the first Grammy win for Mahadevan, this is not the primary rodeo for Zakir Hussain, who had beforehand received in the identical class in 1991, together with T. H. Vinayakram, for Planet Drum, after which once more in 1996 for Raga Aberi, alongside L. Shankar and T. H. Vinayakram.
Congrats Finest International Music Album winner – ‘This Second’ Shakti. #GRAMMYs 🎶
WATCH NOW https://t.co/OuKk34kvdu pic.twitter.com/N7vXftfaDy
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) February 4, 2024
One other Grammy win for Indian artists this yr comes within the class of Finest International Music Efficiency for the tune Pashto, which options Hussain, alongside Indian flautist Rakesh Chaurasia (who received two Grammys this time) and American musicians Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer. Different songs of Indian connection nominated within the class had been Abundance in Millets by Grammy winner Falu, that includes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Shadow Forces by Arooj Aftab and Vijay Iyer.
The album “As We Communicate”, which incorporates the tune Pashto, clinched the award for Finest Modern Instrumental Album. It incorporates a dozen songs by Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Rakesh Chaurasia. The album presents a mix of Indian and Western musical notes with a sonic tapestry of banjo, tabla, double bass, and bansuri (that will be a mixture of Indian classical, Jazz and Bluegrass music).
A number of Grammy winner Ricky Kej expressed his pleasure for Indian artists’ win earlier this morning, applauding Hussain, Mahadevan, Chaurasia, V Selvaganesh, and Ganesh Rajagopalan in a submit on X. Bengaluru-based Kej received his third Grammy for the album ‘Divine Tides’ final yr on the sixty fifth Annual Grammy Awards.
SHAKTI wins a #GRAMMYs #GRAMMYs2024 !!! By means of this album 4 good Indian musicians win Grammys!! Simply wonderful. India is shining in each path. Shankar Mahadevan, Selvaganesh Vinayakram, Ganesh Rajagopalan, Ustad Zakhir Hussain. Ustad Zakhir Hussain received a second Grammy… pic.twitter.com/dJDUT6vRso
— Ricky Kej (@rickykej) February 4, 2024
India first secured its place on the Grammys in 1968, with Ravi Shankar profitable within the Finest Chamber Music Efficiency class. Since then, Indian artists have received 19 Grammys (excluding the most recent wins) throughout classes comparable to Finest New Age Album, Finest Tune Written for Visible Media, Finest Compilation Soundtrack Album, and Finest Classical Vocal Efficiency.
