Ektala

Maestro’s Choice – Zakir Hussain is a studio album released in 1995 under the Magnasound label. The recording features a collaboration between tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain and sarangi maestro Ustad Sultan Khan. The album showcases a single extended improvisational piece rooted in the North Indian classical tradition.

The sole track, Ektala, spans 29 minutes and 51 seconds. It adopts the ektal rhythmic cycle, a 12-beat structure commonly employed in Hindustani classical music. Hussain performs on the tabla, while Khan contributes sarangi melodies and vocal alaap segments. The composition unfolds as an exploratory dialogue between percussion and string, emphasizing spontaneous interplay and thematic development.

The release format is a compact disc. No additional session musicians or production credits are documented in the available context. The album title suggests a curatorial focus on Hussain’s artistic selections, though specific criteria for track inclusion remain unrecorded. The 1995 release date aligns with a period of heightened international visibility for both artists, particularly following Hussain’s work with fusion ensembles like Shakti and Khan’s global performances as a sarangi soloist.

Notable aspects of Ektala include its unbroken single-track structure and the absence of overt compositional boundaries, allowing the performers to traverse multiple ragas and rhythmic variations within the ektal framework. The recording captures a live-studio ambiance, with minimal post-production intervention evident in the final mix. Further details regarding recording location, engineering personnel, or alternate takes are not provided in the source material.