Ty Burhoe

Ty Burhoe is a tabla player, composer, recording engineer and concert producer. Born in Massachusetts, he grew up with a musician father as his early influence, starting violin at six and trombone at nine, and took up guitar in high school. His love of nature led him to Montana to study grizzly bears and Native American tradition.

In 1990 he met the tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain and began studying tabla. From then on he dedicated his life to music, both as a career and as a spiritual path. He became Zakir Hussain's disciple and was his tour and stage manager for 25 years. Ty is known for inspired accompaniment and an uplifting presence in classical and fusion settings, and for creating collaborations that weave tabla with other world traditions. His site lists collaborators across rock and folk, classical Indian and world music, among them Krishna Das, Jai Uttal and Steve Gorn.

He has appeared on many film and DVD soundtracks and hundreds of album recordings, and has performed in halls including Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Festival Hall in London. In 2004 he opened the independent label Tala Records, which features many of his collaborations.

Ty also teaches. He leads tabla retreats in Boulder, Colorado, and has created an online course that guides students from beginners through intermediate players. It covers rhythm training, the core forms of composition and tabla maintenance and repair.