Deserts impress me. There is a absolute silence, but in its midst, you hear so many things - the sweep of the wind, the cries of the birds and the rustle of the animals moving across the sandy surface. I respond to the earthy colours and warm tones of the desert, the extreme environments of heat and cold, the engulfing awesomeness of the harsh contours. Desert people fascinate me withtheir pristiness, and organic approach to life.

The traditional culture of the deserts in our part of the world (India, the Middle East and North Africa) have much in common in terms of rhythms and instruments. In my compositions, I have used these common elements and included popular traditions from all these areas to take the listener through the experience of being there, bringing together sounds, rhythms and melodies that I have heard in these deserts myself. You will hear, as i did, melodic strains that seem to echo through all these areas -- the result perhaps of nomadic flows -- and in the insistent, urgent percussion beats, you too will glimpse the courage and valour of all desert peoples.

A different aura surrounds the mysterious ice desert of Ladakh with its Tibetan and Central Asian connections. This composition is my musical interpretation of its landscape, majestic yet bleak, and the deep spirituality of its people and monasteries.

                                                                                                   -ZAKIR HUSSAIN