Michael Lewis

MICHAEL LEWIS is recognized as one of the finest North American tabla Players today, disciple of Ustad Alla Radha, and long time student of Ustad Zakir Hussain. Michael has accompanied many eminent Indian artists, including Zakir Hussain, Vishal Mohan Bhatt, Krishna Bhatt and Partha Chatterjee. He was invited to join as a member of Zakir Hussain and the Rhythm Experience from 1988 until their last performance in 2006. He is also highly recognized in world music and fusion circles where he has performed with Rajeev Taranath, Terry Riley, George Brooks, Ken Zuckerman, Depak Ram, Krishna Das, David Trasoff, Ty Burhoe, Steve Oda and many other leading artists. He is a long time beloved member of the tabla community, commonly known as “Doc”. Michael first was introduced to Indian Classical Music in 1972 in Berkeley California, taking lessons from Pundit Krishna Bhatt. Over the years, they have performed many times together. His love for tabla took him to India, numerous times, where he lived from 1979-1980 with Pundit Nikhil Banerjee, which was a very cherished time in his musical journey. Besides being an exceptional life long student of tabla, (fifty years), Michael is a physician, and has been working in the San Francisco Bay Area for 35 years in Primary Care. He sides in the Bay Area and Vancouver, B.C.