“I imagined creating a world where classical language could live alongside Indian musical rhythmic ideas.” – Béla Fleck
As We Speak. Begin with the most creative exponent of the banjo in our time, Béla Fleck. Add the acclaimed virtuoso of the bass, Edgar Meyer. Establish the trio with the greatest living player of the tabla, the legendary drums—and drummer—of India, Zakir Hussain. Combine with a special guest, the great Indian flautist Rakesh Chaurasia. Then finish the ensemble with the magic of improvisation. The results will be some of the most remarkable music anyone will hear this year.
“When we are performing on stage, in composing mode or creating mode, we are basically having a conversation,” says renowned tabla player, Zakir Hussain, of his bandmates, banjo legend Béla Fleck, the great double bassist Edgar Meyer, and bansuri player Rakesh Chaurasia. “So the music emerges as we speak.”
The Shedd Institute is pleased to welcome Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer back to Jaqua Concert Hall – this time with tabla legend Zakir Hussain and bansuri great Rakesh Chaurasia – Monday, November 20th, the penultimate performance of this year’s As We Speak tour. As has always been the case with Béla and his colleagues, this project is intensely rich and, to us, deeply satisfying. As We Speak (Thirty Tigers) not only showcases the group’s breathtaking abilities as instrumentalists, but underscores the wide range of influences at their command. Across a dozen songs, the quartet glides easily between the cerebral complexity of Indian rhythm and the gut-level groove of a funky bass line, sounding equally at home with the rigors of raga.
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