Berklee Indian Ensemble featuring Ustad Zakir Hussain – Lady L (Live at Berklee)

The Berklee Indian Ensemble is proud to present “Lady L” featuring Grammy-winning Indian tabla master, Zakir Hussain. Composed by L. Shankar and featuring John McLaughlin, “Lady L” was originally performed by ‘Shakti’, the 1970s indo-jazz fusion group and appeared on the group’s second studio album titled “A Handful of Beauty”. The group featured John McLaughlin (guitar), Zakir Hussain (tabla), L Shankar (Violin) and Vikku Vinayakram (Percussion).

In 2019, Berklee College of Music presented Ustad Zakir Hussain with an Honorary Doctorate. It was the perfect opportunity for our Berklee Indian Ensemble musicians to reinterpret such an iconic composition and collaborate on this live performance with Ustad Zakir Hussain as part of our week long celebration of the maestro’s life and musical accomplishments leading up to his Honorary Doctorate ceremony.

“Lady L” composed by L. Shankar
Arranger: Amir Darabi
Producer: Emanuel Keller
Co-Producer: Artistic Director, BIX, Annette Philip
Artist Relations: Senior Director, Global Engagement, Middle East & India, Clint Valladares
Assistant Manager, BIX: Rohith Jayaraman
Assistant, BIX: Lydia Renold

Visiting Artist
Tabla – Ustad Zakir Hussain

Berklee Indian Ensemble musicians:
Guitar – João Perrusi – Brasilia, Brazil
Cello – Emanuel Keller – Jerusalem, Israel
Carnatic Violin – Apoorva Krishna – Bengaluru, India
Piano – Amir Darabi – Tehran, Iran
Keyboards – Fryderyk Hoang Dong – Warsaw, Poland
Electric Bass – Jack Schwenke – Canberra, Australia
Percussion – Thomas Antonio Debelian – Oslo, Norway
Drumset – Noa Kahn – Ra’anana, Israel

Recorded live at Berklee Performance Center, Berklee College of Music
Video Editing: Kevin Greene
Multitrack Recording Engineer: Tarik Mahrour
Mixing Engineer: Mark Wessel
Mastering: Jonathan Wyner