Genius Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain, is one of the world’s exceptional percussionists. The son of Ustad Alla Rahka (who would have been 100 years old this year), Zakir is also a composer, improviser, and a great communicator in Persian, Gujarati, German, English, as well as in jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythms, Nigerian talking drums, or Indonesian gamelan. One of the most exciting ways that Zakir Hussain shares this deep and vast knowledge in performance is by way of the Masters of Percussion Tour – which is exactly as stunning as a music fan (especially a drum nerd) might ever imagine.

For this year’s tour, the ensemble includes the sitar virtuoso and instrument inventor Niladri Kumar, along with the extraordinary jazzer Eric Harland (Charles Lloyd, Dave Holland's Prism) on Western drums, and the Kerala Drummers from the Southwestern coast of India.

Zakir Hussain, Niladri Kumar, and Eric Harland join us in-studio for a sample of this astounding musical magic. - (NSAPA and drum nerd Caryn Havlik)

See the Masters of Percussion Tour in New York on Wed., Apr. 24, at Town Hall, 7:30 pm.

Watch the session here: