Ustad Sultan Khan Airto Moreira Babatunde Olatunji Previous Artists Next Artists

		Ustad Sultan Khan Ustad Sultan Kahn is one of the foremost sarangi players in India, reknowned for his extraordinary technical and melodic control over this difficult instrument. In India, there is hardly a Saturday when Ustad Sultan Khan is not playing for vast audiences as a solo artist or as an accompaniest to some great vocalist. Moreover, as a composer, he has scored music for many films and dance drama's. He has been a staff artist with All India Radio for many years. He has performed many times in Europe and the United States much to the delight of classical music audiences, amazed at his dexterous bowing and his command over the tonal nuances of his instrument. Characteristic of Sultan Khan's sarangi playing style are his exquisite gamak (orniments or grace notes), and intricate taan melodic patterns.

Airto Moreira Airto Moreira has been in the forefront of jazz and world music for most of the past two decades. The Brazilian - born percussionist and composer made his impact in the United States as a member of trumpet immortal Miles Davis' history - making Bitches Brew band. Airto's ability to create music with just about anything he picked up quickly made him one of the most avidly sought after percussionists in the world. He has performed and recorded with Cannonball Adderly, Carlos Santana, Paul Simon and countless others, and is a perennial winner of critics' and readers' polls in Downbeat, Jazz Times and many other publications. With fellow Miles Davis alumni Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul, he was a founding member of Weather Report, and in 1972, joined Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, and Joe Farrell in the original Return to Forever, a band which also introduced the world to the extraordinary talents of Airto's wife, Flora Purim.

Babatunde Olatunji It's not a overstatement to say that no one is more responsible for introducing Western ears to African music than Babatunde Olatunji. Long before phrases like "world music" and "multi - culturalism" became voguish, Olatunji was permeating popular consciousness. His 1959 album, Drums of Passion, was a surprise smash hit, racking up astonishing sales in the Americas and Europe. Olatunji and his troupe were seen by millions on network television and by countless visitors to the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. But the Nigerian-born master drummer has always sought to inspire and educate, not just entertain. Having established a cultural center in New York City, Olatunji became a mentor to many American musicians (including jazz saxophone great John Coltrane) who sought to learn more about the African roots of their music. Olatunji's influence was felt in the rock era as well - Carlos Santana scored a hit with an adaptation of Olatunji's "Jingo Lo Ba" on the first Santana album in 1969. A fortuitous meeting with Mickey Hart in 1985, led to Olatunji's memorable appearance opening for the Grateful Dead on New Years Eve of that year. It also established a deep friendship and many fruitful collaborations between Hart and Olatunji.

Mickey Hart

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