Samir Chatterjee

Pandit Samir Chatterjee is one of the leading Tabla players of India. Born into a musical family in Calcutta, he began his studies early with Pandit Bankim Ghosh, Pandit Balaram Mukherjee, Pandit Rathin Dhar and Mohammad Salim. His later formation as a musician occurred under the guidance of Pandit Amalesh Chatterjee (since 1966) and Pandit Shyamal Bose (since 1984). All of Samir's teachers have been from the Farrukhabad Gharana (school) of Tabla-playing, which he now represents.

Samir appears frequently as a soloist and an accompanist throughout India and abroad. Since 1982, he has been regularly touring North America, Europe, North Africa and Asia. All India Radio maintains Samir as an A-rated artist. He can be heard on numerous recordings featuring as soloist and accompanying many of India's greatest musicians. In concert, apart from soloing, Samir has accompanied many of India's greatest musicians including Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Nikhil Banerjee, Pt. V.G. Jog, Pt . Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Smt. Lakshmi Shankar, Smt. Girija Devi, to name only a few.

Samir presently lives in New York, where he has become a catalyst in the fusion of Indian and Western music, performing with Pauline Oliveros, Ravi Coltrane, Steve Gorn, Glen Velez, Boby Sanabria, Dance Theater of Harlem, Ethos Percussion, Battery Dance Co., Kathak Ensemble, Da Capo Chamber Orchestra, Boston Musica Viva and other jazz and avant guard musicians and groups. He is a member of jazz trio SYNC with Ned Rothenberg and Jerome Harris and SATYA with Dave Douglas and Myra Melford. He is the composer and director of Nacho Nacho - Gypsy Storytelling and Chhand-Anand (Chhandayan World percussion Ensemble). He performs with Sanjay Mishra on his CD " Blue Incantation " featuring Jerry Garcia as guest artist.

He has been teaching tabla for the last 24 years. His teaching style combines energy, generosity of spirit, love for students and a profound knowledge of music. Many of his students are already established performers. He founded Chhandayan to promote and preserve Indian music. He has two masters’ degrees in English and History and also has a career as a musicologist and journalist.

In the WPE, Samir will be playing instruments ranging from the tabla to the Khol, Ektara, Dhak and the Dholak.

Tabla is the most popular drum from India. Its origin is in Northern India and started being used in Cllassical music. But now it is extensively used in all kinds of music all over India. Its almost melodic quality and enormous rhythmic possibilties is attracting trmendous interest from the western world. It is two-piece drum. The bass drum used to be made of clay but due to transportation problem that has been replaced by copper and brass.

The other instruments he will be playing mostly have their origin from religious and folk backgrounds.

The Khol is a devotional folk drum. It is used to sing the praises of the Gods and Goddesses. It is a barrel-shaped clay drum with heads on both ends. One side has the bass tone and the other is high pitched. It is associated with the Vaishnav tradition of worship and extensively used all over Eastern India. It is awaiting a contemporary revival.

The Ektara is a stringed instrument arising from the Baul tradition, which was the religion of the lower caste and the lower classes. It was the cry of the subalterns and eventually became more political than religious. It is largely syncretic in nature. The Ektara has curious bending notes and can be used as both a melodic and percussive instrument. Till date it is limited to the Baul folk music typical of Bengal comprising Bangladesh and West Bengal, India.

The Dhak and Dhol on the other hand come from the folk tradition, largely festive in nature. The Dhak is played with sticks. It produces a loud sound stemming from the fact that it was used in villages lacking in amplification for announcement purposes. Today it is used as part of the festival in religious occassions in the Eastern region of India.

The Dholak comes from the North Indian folk background. It is a barrel-shaped drum, made of wood with heads on both ends. One end producing the base and the other a high-pitched tone. The overall tone is rather muted and not resonant in quality. It is getting immense popularity in recent times as it is being used in North and South Indian films and modern pop music.


Frank Colón

Frank Colón is not a typical "Latin percussionist"; he is a specialist in some of the most difficult African, Brazilian, and afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican percussion instruments. His talents have been recognized and applauded by artists such as Wayne Shorter, Airto Moreira, Harry Belafonte, George Clinton, Julito Collazo, Olatunji, Mickey Hart, and Milton Nascimento, among many others.

Frank Colón was born on Oct.13, 1951, in Washington, D.C. Moving to Puerto Rico at the age of five, Frank's musical instruction began at age eleven, beginning with classical piano lessons, under the guidance of Angelina and Rafael Figueroa, Frank kept up his piano studies throughout his teenage years, trying his hand at pop guitar, electric bass, and trap drums, as well. He was also very active in municipal and collegiate sports, as well as amateur theater. During this time, he worked with various local pop music groups through-out the island of P.R.

In 1970, he moved to Washington, D.C. During this time, his musical orientation changed from melodic instruments to percussion. Taking advantage of the informative resources available in Wash., D.C., he immersed himself in research concerning the world of drums and percussion. Finishing his university requirements, he turned full-time to his music. Besides working as a percussionist in the local bands around the Wash., D.C., Virginia, and Maryland area, he organized and presented percussion workshops sponsored by the U.S. Park Service and the District of Columbia Penal System.

In 1976, Frank moved to New York City, on a call to work with his friend and mentor, the legendary drum master, Julito Collazo. It was this close working association with Julito Collazo which sharpened and perfected Frank's skills and knowledge in afro-Cuban music and folklore. Through Julito's guidance, he became proficient at playing the Batá drums, sacred to the Orisha (Santería) religion. Frank has played Brazilian percussion since the time he lived in Wash., D.C. Besides learning other rhythms and instruments from the interior of Brazil, he excels in his knowledge and skill of the Capoeira ritual, from Bahia,Brazil. Capoeira is a ritual dance form, which is in reality, a lethal Brazilian martial art.

Apart from being a firm traditionalist concerning folklore music, Frank believes in and enjoys contemporary and progressive percussion; not only the use of traditional instruments in innovative ways but the exploratory and experimental use of new and modern percussion instruments and concepts. He is constantly exploring the possibilities of a beneficial marriage between acoustic percussion instruments and modern technology, for use in both "live" and studio performances. Frank says that he plays percussion "melodically".

A partial list of whom Frank Colón has worked and/or toured with includes The Manhattan Transfer, Wayne Shorter, Harry Belafonte, Gato Barbieri, Chet Baker, Pat Metheny, Aretha Franklyn, Mary J. Blige, Herbie Hancock, Gilberto Gil, Larry Coryell, Minehaha.

With the Chhand-Anand, World Percussion Ensemble, Frank Colon will be performing on various instruments, which are the congas, bongos, berimbau, chequere, cuica, pandeiro, bata drums and other assorted hand percussion instruments. While they are all of South American or Caribbean origin, they are mostly African as far as historical concept is concerned. The original models for all of these instruments were brought over to this hemisphere with the importation of African slaves a couple of centuries ago. The instruments are mostly made up of a combination of wood, metal, gourds, and animal hides. The style of playing these instruments reflects the Caribbean and Brazilian concepts of percussion playing in that most of the instruments mentioned above incorporate polyrhythmic as well as polytonal techniques in the execution of their individual and unique "voices". Frank is capable of unique melodic expression by means of their traditional playing techniques. Their expression potential has been further stretched by extensive and deep research on Frank’s part. All of these instruments have been used to preserve and execute religious ritual traditions (as in the case of the Bata drums, the main "orchestra" of the Orisha religion, originally from the Yoruba tribe of West Nigeria). There is also an attempt to foster the preservation of popular folkloric culture, such as the instruments used in the carnival music of Brazil, or the rumba and bomba folklores of Cuba and Puerto Rico. While their traditional application is still vibrantly alive, these instruments are more and more a part of modern contemporary popular music culture.


Emiliano Andres Valerio

He began playing piano at the age of 8. As a teenager he began studying rock, jazz and classical guitar. He graduated from Brown University in 1992 with a minor in jazz performance. In 1994, he studied percussion at La Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, Cuba. As a percussionist, Emiliano has played and recorded with many Salsa and Latin jazz groups including his own group which has performed on the PBS program Shades. He has acted and performed in numerous regional theater productions and was percussionist for the 10th anniversary run of The Legacy at the National Black Theater in Harlem in 1997. From 1997 to 2000, Emiliano played percussion, guitar and keyboards, and was the musical director for the Broadway show “Tap Dogs”, touring the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. He has studied tabla with Pandit Samir Chatterjee since 1999.

He plays Latin percussion, specifically Cuban percussion. Congas, timbales, and bongos are his specialty, although he also plays djembe, cajon, frame drums and tabla, of course. Within the context of the Chhand-Anand, WPE he will be playing mostly congas, bongo, udu, cajon and bata. Cuban music has a very rich history that encompasses the mixture of diverse African and European elements and tradition.

The congas, also known as tumbadoras, were developed in Cuba around the beginning of the 20th century. They were created within the context of the rumba, an Afro-Cuban musical form that originated within the poorer urban areas of Cuba. The rumba is essentially a collective lay festivity involving percussion, dance and song. Wooden crates were originally used as percussion as well as spoons, sticks, and other percussive items. As the rumba evolved 2 (soon, three) barrel-shaped drums (congas/tumbadoras) replaced the crates. The forerunners of these drums whose bodies were made of wooden staves with a drum head of goat skin can be found in the ngoma drums used by different African ethnic groups of the Bantu linguistic family. These older drums had to go through many transformations before they were able to fulfill the expressive needs of the Cuban rumba and ultimately evolve into the modern conga. Traditionally, congas have been made of wood but with the advent of amplified instruments they can be made of fiberglass giving the drum increased volume and projection.

Congas are played primarily in a secular/popular music context. However, they are sometimes used as substitutes for the religious drums of Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Brazil. While playing technique encompasses a wide range of hand positions and movements, 5 basic sounds are the heart of conga vocabulary: open tone, slap, bass tone, shuffle, and muffled tone.


Daniel Weiss

Daniel Weiss started playing the drums at age 6. Throughout his childhood and young adult life, music has been a passion for him. He attended the Manhattan School of music in the fall of 1995, studying drumset and classical composition while taking piano lessons on the side. He has also been studying frame drums sporadically since he was 16.

A native of the New York area, Dan has been performing extensively in the jazz and experimental music scene for the past 6 years. Some notable players that he performed with have been The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Lee Konitz, David Liebman and others. He has played at venues such as the Blue Note, Birdland, The Knitting Factory and Village Vanguard.

He is an active part of many bands and collectives such as BowenSacks Weiss trio, Miles Okazzi Quintet, Line Zero, Ohad Talmor’s Scent of the Morning Dew Quartet, The Delphian Jazz Orchestra, and the Wet Ink Composers Collective to name a few. He has recorded with these groups as well as many others.

In the Spring of 1996, Dan met Pandit Samir Chatterjee. He has been studying and practicing Tabla under Samir’s careful guidance since then. This experience has changed his life. Currently Dan spends his days and nights practicing and performing.

His main instrument in the Chhand-Anand, WPE is the traditional drumkit. Although there
are many different incarnations of this instrument, he uses a traditional setup. Two cymbals, a hi hat, a snare drum, bass drum, and two tom toms. This is the basis for all larger setups and it is the kind of setup most frequently used in the jazz idiom that he mostly performs.

This is the only percussion instrument where one uses both hands and feet. It is a truly American instrument developed within the 1st couple of decades of the 20th century, making it a baby among instruments. Despite the instrument's young age, there have been numerous innovations in terms of playing and equipment changes. Here are some people who have revolutionized the instrument in the jazz idiom—Chick Webb, Kenny Klarke, Max Roach, Baby Dodds, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Buddy Rich Sonny Murray, Milford Graves, and countless others in the fusion idiom( fusion is the combination of rock and jazz, in this case ) to name only a few. There are dozens of other people who we have left out and hundreds of others who are contributing as well. The drum set tradition is vast and the future looks very healthy

Dan tries to incorporate as much music as he can into the drum set. Since he studies tabla intensively, he plays the traditional tabla repertoire on the drums as well.

Donald Eaton

Don Eaton has been a seasoned percussionist for over 20 years. He has performed with the Dance Theater of Harlem, Alvin Alley Dance Theater, Maurice Hines, Andy Williams, Chuck Davis Dance Theater, Pattie LaBelle, choreographers Geoffrey Holder, Louis Johnson and many more. Don Eaton has recorded with many jazz and R&B artists such as Donald Brown, Joe Henderson, Tyron Jefferson and The Last Poets to list a few. He is presently on faculty at the Harlem School of The Arts and is a member of the Last Poets who are presently touring. Mr. Eaton has extensive knowledge in Afro-Cuban folklore and music. Presently, Mr. Eaton has been studying with Orlando Puntilla, a Cuban percussionist and folklorist. He has also studied with Lui Bauzo, Roberto Borell, Lazaro Gaglarga, Mar Gueye, Puntilla Orlando Rios and many others to name a few.

Don Eaton has also performed with the Metropolitan Opera’s Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, The State Theater, Avery Fisher’s Hall, City Center, The Apollo Theater, The House of Blues (LA and Chicago) and others.

Don Eaton has credits on numerous albums and CDs. He has recorded with Donald Brown’s Cause and Effect, Tyron Jefferson’s Connections, Jason Linder’s Jazz Underground-Live at Smalls, The Last Poets’ Holy Terror, Abiodun Oyewole’s (last poets) solo CD named 25 Years and on their last CD The Time Has Come.

Mr. Eaton has conducted workshops throughout the metropolitan, tri-state areas, with many art institutions such as Arts Connection, The Harlem School of the Arts, Sister Griots, Yaffa Productions, North Hampden High School and Jack and Jill Art Center to name a few.

In Chhand-Ananad, WPE Don plays African and Latin percussion such as djembe, bata, congas and bongos and few other instruments. Some these instruments have been described earlier. Djembe is typical loud African drum used for announcement and dance. It is played with slaps of the entire palm. Bongo is a two-piece drum with a low and high drum held between the knees and played with fingers. Batas are barrel shaped loud sounding drums played as an ensemble.

Yousif Sheronick

Global music specialist Yousif Sheronick appears throughout the United States and Europe as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborative artist with world renowned groups such as Glen Velez and Handance, Ethos Percussion Group, Alhambra, I Giullari di Piazza, Music from China, and New York's Ensemble for Early Music. Encompassing a wide range of styles including ethnic, jazz, rock, and contemporary, Mr. Sheronick specializes in world percussion instruments from around the globe. Distinguished collaborators have included Yo-Yo Ma, Glen Velez, John LaBarbera, Pandit Samir Chatterjee, the Pacifica String Quartet, Sonny Fortune, David Krakauer, Steve Gorn, and Alessandra Belloni.

Mr. Sheronick's live radio performances have included NPR's "Performance Today" and John Shaffer's "New Sounds." He is a clinician for the Remo Drum Company and gives
master classes and facilitates drum circles around the country. Mr. Sheronick has often been called upon to premiere works by today's leading composers, including Michael Daugherty and Zhou Long, as well as Mr. Velez and Mr. LaBarbera. He is also an active studio musician, recording for movies and commercials as well as for the Ellipsis Arts, Koch International, PGM, Newport Classics, Interworld Music and Pro Organo record labels. Mr. Sheronick holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Iowa and serves on the faculty of the Concordia Conservatory.

In the Chhand-Anand, WPE, he will be performing on instruments from the Arab world. They include the darabuka, riq, tar Bodhran and bendir. The darabuka is considered a folk instrument whereas the riq (tambourine) is considered classical. Frame drums (tar, bendir) date back at least 5000 years. During that time, one can see paintings and carvings in caves and tombs that depict women playing these instruments.

The darabukas were originally made of clay with an animal skin head. Now they are usually made of steel and (in the case of Yousif’s drums) have decorative mother of pearl inlay on the outside. The riq is made of wood (with the same inlay) with brass cymbals and a fish shin head. The tar and bendir are wooden with plastic heads (originally skin heads).

All drums have three main tones with a vocal syllable that corresponds to each one. Open/bass tone "Dum" played in the center of the drum. Closed/slap tone "pah." Rim/cymbal tone "tek" played at the edge or on the cymbals.

His instruments will bring Middle Eastern influence and musical sensibilities into this diverse ensemble. These instruments are being explored by many contemporary artists including Sting, Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel. He is currently performing on these instruments along with composer Philip Glass, The Flow (pop/rock) and the Ethos Percussion Group (chamber ensemble) as well as traditional artists such as Simon Shaheen. In addition, he is working with several composers who are writing for Middle Eastern percussion with other ensembles including classical string quartet.


Mario Monaco

Mario Monaco started studying Drumset and Percussion at the age of 10. He has traveled to many Caribbean, South America and African countries, absorbing the many different rhythms . Having lived in Brazil for over 5 years, he studied and played with great Brazilian musicians, giving him the opportunity to study instruments such as “Pandeiro”, the King of all Brazilian percussive instruments, Berimbau, TamTam , etc. Currently living in N.Y.C. his love for different percussive instruments never stops to grow, applying it to many different musical situations.

With the Chhand-Anand, WPE, Mario Monaco will be performing on various instruments, which are the bongos, berimbau, chequere, cuica, pandeiro and other assorted hand percussion instruments. While they are all of South American or Caribbean origin, they are mostly African as far as historical concept is concerned. The original models for all of these instruments were brought over to this hemisphere with the importation of African slaves a couple of centuries ago. The instruments are mostly made up of a combination of wood, metal, gourds, and animal hides. The style of playing these instruments reflects the Caribbean and Brazilian concepts of percussion playing. In that most of the instruments mentioned above incorporate polyrhythmic as well as polytonal techniques in the execution of their individual and unique "voices". As such, while capable of a limited degree of melodic expression by means of their traditional playing techniques, their expression potential has been further stretched by extensive and deep research on Mario’s part. All of these instruments have been used to preserve and execute religious ritual traditions (as in the case of the There is also an attempt to foster the preservation of popular folkloric culture, such as the instruments used in the carnival music of Brazil, or the rumba and bomba folklores of Cuba and Puerto Rico. While their traditional application is still vibrantly alive, these instruments are more and more a part of modern contemporary popular music culture.