Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain & Edgar Meyer

When musicians come together from disparate musical traditions, the results tend to favor one of two extremes. Either the artists play past one another, without creating a true dialogue, or, in rare instances, the collaboration is a wholly satisfying experience that showcases music as a universal language. Fortunately, The Melody of Rhythm, a project that brings together three of the world’s best in their respective disciplines, falls into the latter category.

“Basically, we’re just enjoying ourselves playing the music,” said Zakir Hussain, considered the world’s greatest tabla player. “The positive energy we have is so contagious, I imagine the audience would just get wrapped up in that energy.”

Hussain lays the percussive foundation for his latest artistic endeavor, which includes banjoist Béla Fleck, whose bluegrass-jazz fusion with the Flecktones has been among the most groundbreaking of the past twenty-plus years. Rounding out the trio is bassist Edgar Meyer, who has carved out an impressive career as a classical soloist and composer.

“I react to whatever is being played by these two musicians,” said Hussain. “In that sense, this is a very interesting band because the bass and bango are both melody and rhythm instruments, while the tabla is a rhythmic instrument that also has the possibility of playing melodically.”