stad Alaf Hussain, more popularly known as Tafoo, who died last week was an amazing tabla player.

The ustad came from a family of hereditary musicians. Under his wings for several decades many family members took part in various capacities in film and music making. For nearly 30 years, they have maintained a dominating presence over the entire production spectrum. Led by Tafoo, who was very innovative as well as very skillful, all of them have been very competent musicians.

Tafoo’s father Khadim Hussain was a shagird of Mian Qadir Bukhsh as well as a shagird of Domma Gulliwalay. Since his father had been a shagird of Mian Qadir Buhksh, Tafoo made his debut in the presence of Mian Qadir Bukhsh , Bhai Naseera and Allah Rakha, playing a taal of sarhay pandara matray on the tabla.

In a way, Ustad Tafoo enlarged the vocabulary of the tabla by introducing many sounds that were not originally recognised as a part of the table notes. He was inspired mainly by sounds made using other instruments and various timbers. He could play these with remarkable facility and incorporated the sounds into the sonic range of the tabla. This was unconventional but worthwhile. The innovation expanded the range of tabla sounds and beats. It should be noted that the sounds had been around but were not formally a part of the tabla sound vocabulary so far.

Tafoo Khan, who started his journey as a tabla player, gradually developed expertise in playing a number of instruments. Soon, he was able to arrange and conduct an entire orchestra. Next, he ventured into composition of film music. His first film, Anwara, was a super hit and established him as a leading film composer of the subcontinent.

It should be noted that very few film music composers in the subcontinent have had a background of rhythm. Instead, most composers have had greater expertise in melody and have emphasised that aspect in their work. The sur was their strength and they dwelled on it. In Tafoo’s case, his rich background in the complexities of rhythm informed and facilitated his work.

Tafoo Khan was a solo tabla player par excellence. He amazed his audiences with the incorporation of sounds that were not usual. On the other hand, he carried the general pattern of the tabla cycle with great ease. All this helped him in his composition of film music where he was hugely successful.

Because his incorporation of various sounds into the vocabulary of the tabla was unconventional, Tafoo Khan did not usually accompany famous vocalists or other instrumentalists on the tabla. He was too innovative for most of them and bent upon creating new sounds and patterns to be tied down to an understated role usually assigned to tabla accompaniment. Instead, he was deliberately unconventional, introducing several sounds that the traditional table players were not familiar with. He was thus a great originator of sound effects. In that line of work, he used the table, which is still not usual.

Tafoo Khan was a solo tabla player par excellence. He amazed his audiences with the incorporation of sounds that were not usual. On the other hand he carried the general pattern of the tabla cycle with great ease. All this helped him in his composition of film music where he was hugely successful. Ustad Tafoo composed music for hundreds of films. All the leading vocalists of the film world responded to his call and invitation. In the process, besides working with the already established vocalists he introduced Rajab Ali, Naheed Akhter and Naseebo Lal to the wider world of music.

The Punjab gharana, as it is known today, enlarged its scope and established it credentials under him. Of the various baajs including Ajrar , Farukkhabad, Benarus, Delhi and Luchknow, the Punjab school stemming from the pakhawaj has innovated the most and come a long way. In this Ustad Altaf Hussain Tafooi’s contributions cannot be ignored or underplayed.

Though acknowledged as a maestro by his peers and popular with the listening public, Ustad Tafoo did not receive early state recognition. It was rather late in his career that he was awarded the President’s Medal for the Pride of Performance. He has a permanent place in the hearts of millions of admirers all over the world, particularly in the subcontinent, who have hummed his compositions and derived pleasure from those.

The writer is an art critic based in Lahore