Alla Rakha Quereshi, born April 29, 1919, at Ratangarh, near Jammu in India, is one of the leading accompanists and tabla soloists of Hindustani music. He is also vocalist, harmonium player and composer. He rose to fame through his work as Ravi Shankar's accompanist in the 1960s and 1970s when Shankar's music was finding a new, international audience. Since record-keeping at the  time of his birth tended to be hit-and-miss affairs -- often little more than a season or in proximity to a holy day -- his birth date is approximate, borne out by the fact that he celebrated his 75th birthday in Bombay on January 15, 1994.  

 Quereshi's musical interests were fueled by the traveling theatrical entertainments that would pass through the Jammu region, and eventually, he ran away from home to Lahore in present-day Pakistan. There he lived with his uncle and eventually took formal tuition; fortunately, his skills were recognized early on. Unusually, he studied under Mian Kadur Bukhsh for tabla and under Ashiq Ali Khan for voice. He went to work with All India Radio (AIR) at its Delhi location in 1936 with the famous broadcaster Z.A. Bokhari. He worked in other locations for AIR before leaving the company in 1943 for the movie industry where he composed and performed music to meet the insatiable demand for cinematic entertainment. In time he moved on to classical music. He was especially known for his work with two of the subcontinent's finest sitarists, having worked with both Vilayat Khan and Ravi Shankar. Alla Rakha went on to record extensively with Ravi Shankar. He also made a mark as a world class percussionist with his early East-West collaboration with American jazz drummer Buddy Rich on Rich à la Rakha (World Pacific WPS 21453) and the solo Tabla! (WPS21458). 

 He remains one of the supreme percussionists of Northern Indian music and like his sons, Zakir Hussain and Fazal Quereshi, he has given birth to a new style of tabla playing which has elevated the role of tabla player from the relatively lowly accompanist to soloist. Many listeners expect the flamboyance and panache of their cross-rhythms and compare other players' styles unfavorably to that of Alla Rakha and his sons. It is a relatively recent trend, fast becoming the norm. Exciting musically and visually arresting, it has been carbon dated to the 1960s and the emergence of a new wave of soloists bringing new levels of stagecraft to the concert podium.