The master of fusion and Sitar's wiz kid

Fusion music is second nature to Louis Banks. He has been at it for the last 20 years and still maintains he has "just cracked the surface. I have to go much deeper".

Banks was part of a magical evening at the India Habitat Centre on Saturday as he performed along with percussion wizard Sivamani, tabla maestro Ustad Shafaat Ahmed Khan and sitarist Prateek Chaudhuri. The evening was part of the 5th Annual DMA Music Festival, Legends Of India, presented by Samsung and in aid of UMAK Centre for Culture of Pt. Debu Chaudhuri.

Banks has performed with Sivamani umpteen times but it was his first outing with Chaudhuri. "I'm always amazed at the energy of the young. I feel inspired by their new ideas," he said about Chaudhuri, adding: "I work with my son Gino's band that's full of 20-year-olds. They create music in ways I had never even thought of."

On his part, Chaudhuri said: "Banks has been an inspiration for an entire generation of fusion music lovers. It's a great opportunity for me to be creatively productive as creativity is the key to success for any artist."

Fusion obviously comes easily to both of them. Banks says his experiences with the Indian flute have been most memorable as it lends itself easily to fusion. "Sitar and sarod too are beautiful instruments but tabla is in a class of its own. I'm so proud that such a wonderful instrument was invented by an Indian." That's music for Indian ears.