Badal Roy

More than almost any other musician, Badal Roy was one of the first to truly attempt to fuse jazz and traditional Indian Classical music. Sure, Ravi Shankar had played with western musicians, but Roy came to the United States in the late 1960s to stay. He worked closely with Miles Davis and his early Fusion associates (the most notable results were probably with Dave Liebman -- particularly Father Time), lending his rapid finger patterns to classic early '70s albums Big Fun, Get Up With It and On the Corner, and generally adding a new rhythmic dimension to the snarling funk sound. His solo works have continued in this vein, bringing in jazz musicians for a worldly sound. Though perhaps not as talented in a classical sense as other drummers that came after him (such as Zakir Hussain) Badal Roy's contributions have helped open a door to India's cultural music that was previously meant to remain shut.