The most high-profile percussionist of the 1970s and still among the most famous, Airto Moreira (often simply known by his first name) helped make percussion an essential part of many modern jazz groups; his tambourine solos can border on the amazing. Airto originally studied guitar and piano before becoming a percussionist. He played locally in... [+] Read More

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The son of influential Hindustani musician Allaudin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan is one of the Eastern world's greatest musicians. A master of the sarod, a 25-stringed, lute-like, Indian instrument, Khan has brought the Northern Indian classical music to the international stage. A five-time Grammy nominee, Khan was called, by Yehudi Menuhin, "an... [+] Read More

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Musical compartments mean nothing to David Amram, whose compositions and activities have crossed fearlessly back and forth between the classical and jazz worlds, as well as those of Latin jazz, folk, television, and film music. In addition to his rare (to jazz) specialty, the French horn, Amram has also recorded on piano, recorder, Spanish... [+] Read More

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The second track from Tomorrow Is the Question -- Ornette Coleman's 1959 wake-up call to the fusty hard bop movement -- is a medium tempo blues, "Tears Inside." After the statement of the tune's two-beat, countrified-bebop theme, trumpeter Don Cherry plays a solo that -- for all its frail beauty and general adherence to modern jazz's harmonic... [+] Read More

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The musical traditions of southern India have been combined with world influences by violinist and vocalist L. Shankar (born Lakshminarayana Shankar). A founding member of influential mid-'70s Indo-Brit roots group, Shakti, with McLaughlin, Shankar continues to explore ways to bridge diverse cultures through music. In addition to solo recordings... [+] Read More

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Naná Vasconcelos is one of the cluster of endlessly inventive Brazilian percussionists who were changing the direction and sounds of Brazilian jazz in the post-bossa nova 1970s. Vasconcelos is an especially inventive virtuoso of the berimbau, the weird yet expressive instrument shaped like an archer's bow, and he is also adept at the... [+] Read More

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One of the earliest and finest exponents of world jazz, Oregon began life in 1970 as an offshoot of the Paul Winter Consort, in which the group's original members had played. From the beginning, the band eschewed most jazz conventions. Percussionist Collin Walcott played tabla, sitar, and dulcimer, among other instruments, but did not use a trap... [+] Read More

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The Brazilian-born Paulinho Da Costa, an endlessly adaptable percussionist with a knack for hitting precisely the right isolated beat at the right time, became one of the most in-demand sidemen in Los Angeles' busy recording studios in the late '70s and early '80s. He started playing his instruments at age seven, eventually accumulating over 200... [+] Read More

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As jazz-rock fusion pioneer John McLaughlin delved deeper into Eastern spirituality and mysticism, he developed a corresponding interest in the music of South India. Following the collapse of the second version of the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1975, McLaughlin put together Shakti, an outfit dedicated to fusing high-energy jazz and Indian music. In... [+] Read More

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Vladiswar Nadishana is a russian virtuoso multi-instrumentalist and composer from Siberia in direction of modern world fusion and ethnic jazz. He plays on more than 50 instruments of the world, including self-invented.



He is laureate of the international festivals "Ustuu-Huree", "The Sayan Ring" and "New Songs of the Old... [+] Read More

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The tradition of Indian percussion has been revolutionalized by tabla player Zakir Hussain. The son of Ustad Allah Rakha, the long time collaborator of Ravi Shankar, Hussain has inherited his father's quest for bringing the music of India to the international stage. His recording credits include albums with George Harrison, Joe Henderson, Van... [+] Read More

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