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The rhythm divine
Taufiq Quereshi belongs to a family that has been blessed with abundant talent. Everywhere you look, you see talent.

Taufiq is the youngest son of legendary tabla maestro Ustad Alla Rakha Khan and brother of Ustad Zakir Hussain. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that Taufiq has always drawn inspiration from his father who was also his guru.

The beginnings of Rhy-Dhun, his new album, can be traced to the constant exposure to the world of music at home where two great masters, Ustad Alla Rakha and Ustad Zakir Hussain, were at hand to guide him and fine-tune his quest for mastery over the instrument. But somewhere down the line a shift occurred, with percussion in general winning his affection over the tabla, what with exposure to the performances of great percussionists of yore like Tito Pointe, Billy Cobham and Aeirto Merreiro.

Rhy-Dhun is the first album launched by an Indian artiste in the world music category. It is also the first album where the entire family -- Ustad Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain, Fazal and Taufiq -- have recorded and performed together. The album is poignant since it marks the first one to have Ustad Alla Rakha singing; sadly, it is also the last recording of the maestro's voice -- he passed away two days later.

Rhy-Dhun consists of seven songs. Each one of them is exquisite, exotic and exciting.

rediff.com presents an exclusive look at the album, including the music video and Ustad Alla Rakha's last recording.

Produced by SoundPicture Communications

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 Video interview
  On his father
  Making Rhy-Dhun
  On his passion for music
  On his past work
  Music video of Rhy-Dhun
  On the rhythms of Rhy-Dhun
  On Shankar Mahadevan
  Taufiq Unplugged
  On Zakir Hussain
Audio
  Ustad Alla Rakha sings
  Audio promo
  Jamming