Let's journey back in time to Darbar Festival 2023 when Tabla Prince" Ustad Tari Khan, a trailblazing tabla player known for insightful ghazal accompaniment – that swoon worthy genre synonymous with emotional depth and lyrical beauty.

Though he has accompanied the likes of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Mehdi Hassan, the intensity of expression in his astute laggis or intricate rhythmic compositions makes his solos soar.

Indian classical music regards tabla as a spoken language. Khan uses that grammar to paint sur (pitch) and ras (essence), infusing each phrase he plays with pure emotion and infectious rhythm.

The school of music he is trained in (the Punjab gharana) is characterised by robust, larger-than-life playing, rhythmically complex compositions, and bold strokes, making it one of the most influential and respected gharanas in the world of North Indian classical music. Listeners can’t help but be drawn in, and with a stalwart like Khan, the verdant fields of Punjab come alive.

Khan’s ancestral roots trace back to Bhai Mardana, a devoted Sikh companion of Guru Nanak Dev. His maternal grandfather, Bhai Chanan, was a rabābī of the Golden Temple. That kind of pluralism and acceptance defines Khan’s gentle nature and unshakeable belief in the power of music to unite. Rhythm, he insists, was the cosmos' first creation. Jupiter, Mars and Earth, all dance to its pulse.

Tonight, expect to be kept at the edge of your seat as he plays with both abandon and restraint – calculated mathematical precision and flamboyant, thrilling grace. You’ll find the universe will fall right into step.

Subscribe to the Darbar Player to access the full, uncut performance.