Kolkata, Jan. 23 -- Eminent tabla maestro Pandit Suresh Talwalkar has observed that for a long time the tabla remained a supporting background character in Hindustani classical concerts, until Ustad Amir Hussain Khan changed the way the instrument was imagined and performed.
Speaking at the Kolkata Literary Meet 2026, Talwalkar noted that in the earlier period, tabla playing focused mainly on maintaining the theka, a steady rhythmic framework that allowed vocalists to elaborate their khayal or other forms with comfort and continuity. "Even though the theka was aesthetically refined, the tabla had not yet evolved a fully developed solo language," he said.
Talwalkar credited Ustad Amir Hussain Khan with fundamentally changing the situation ...