Tabla maestro Ustad Shafaat Khan died -

Tabla maestro Ustad Shafaat Khan no more

The Pioneer, New Delhi

Noted tabla maestro Ustad Shafaat Ahmed Khan died here Sunday following a brief illness. Fifty one-year-old Khan, a recipient of Padma Shree last year, died at around 10 am (IST) at a private hospital here.

He was hospitalised a week back following stomach pain but was later diagnosed with acute Hepatitis-B and breathed his last in the morning, renowned Sitarist Pandit Debu Chowdhury said.

Khan, who hailed from the Delhi Gharana, was the son of Tabala Maestro Ustad Shamma Khan, who died last year. Khan, a bachelor, is survived by a brother and four sisters.

Chowdhury said Khan had played with top classical artistes like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Amjad Khan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj and Hari Prasad Chaurasia, besides himself.

Chowdhury said Khan was popular among artistes because of humble nature and down to earth attitude. Khan`s death has created a void which will be difficult to fill, he said.

Artists bid farewell to tabla maestro
- By Rajesh Ahuja , Asian Age



New Delhi: A n entertainer to the core, Ustad Shafat Ahmed Khan enchanted the world with his captivating and soulful music for years. A percussionist par excellence and a man of extraordinary forte, he passed away at the age of 51, on Sunday, after a prolonged illness.

Khan would be remembered as one of the most talented and gifted tabla players of the country. Whether it was captivating the minds of young listeners on Spic Macay concerts in schools with maestros such as Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma or accompanying vocalists like Pandit Jasraj at cultural fests, Shafat Ahmed enthralled audience with great music.

Be it a solo show, or accompanying an instrumentalist or a vocalist at concerts, the talented artist was comfortable with all kind of performances. He changed the mindset of people who considered tabla an ancillary to other instruments by making it popular. But the accolades and admiration didn’t change him a bit.

The 2004 Padmashree awardee, an alumnus of the Delhi School of Tabla Playing, mastered the art of percussion under the aegis of his father, famous tabla player Ustad Chhamma Khan. His fellow-artists feel that his presence on any occasion was enough to ensure a delightful evening as he had a magnetic personality and modest approach to everything.

The awe-striking rhythm of legendary tabla maestro Ustad Shafat Ahmed Khan still echoes in the ears of his admirers and compatriots. The charisma and incantation that the artist had is alive in the hearts of music lovers.

His death is a loss that can’t be replenished. It’s a shock that none from the music industry have come out of. In him, the classical music fraternity has lost a great musician.