Shantala
An award-winning musician, composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist equally accomplished on tabla, congas, percussion, esraj, guitar, and keyboards, Shantala has toured and recorded with such artists as Krishna Das, Deva Premal and Miten, Jai Uttal, Walter Becker of Steely Dan, virtuoso guitarist Michael Mandrell, and renowned bamboo flute master G. S. Sachdev. He has also opened for such well-known artists as Carlos Santana, Paul Winter, and Narada Michael Walden. Shantala is a founding member of the internationally acclaimed world fusion ensemble, Ancient Future.
Beginning his musical studies at age 5, starting with piano and later violin and flamenco guitar, Shantala received training in Keyboard Improvisation at the University of Colorado and in Composition and Ethnomusicology at the University of Washington. In addition, he has studied Indian classical music for over 25 years with some of the greatest masters of that tradition including Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain, Ali Akbar Khan and Z. M. Dagar, and was, along with the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart, a contributing composer and member of the Zakir Hussain Rhythm Experience.