A world-renowned tabla player, Badal Roy was born in 1945 and raised by Hindu parents in Pakistan. Although he began playing tabla at age 10, he also developed a fascination with American artists like Elvis Presley, Pat Boone, Nat King Cole, and Duke Ellington. He moved to New York in 1968 to work on his PhD, although music soon became his primary focus. Working with Miles Davis, he appeared on On the Corner, Big Fun, and Get Up with It during the early 1970s, fine-tuning a unique approach to the tabla that combined his Indian classical roots with diverse jazz influences. His versatility served him well during the decades that followed, allowing Roy to successfully collaborate with artists of all stripes. He performed with saxophonist David Liebman on albums like 1974's Lookout Farm and 1975's Ashirbad, backed up Yoko Ono on 1982's It's Alright (I See Rainbows) and 1992's Walking on Thin Ice, and appeared on Ornette Coleman's Tone Dialing in 1995. Roy began leading his own projects during the late 1990s, making his bandleader debut with 1997's One in the Pocket and partnering with Perry Robinson and Ed Schuller for 2002's Raga Roni. He also contributed to 2008's Miles from India, a Grammy-nominated tribute to his former boss, Miles Davis.
