Internationally renowned percussionist and composer Kahil El'Zabar is considered one of the most prolific Jazz innovators of his generation. This world class musician grew up in Chicago's southside where he heard music in the streets eveyday...doo-wop, bebop, gospel, and of course, great blues bands. Even though he is fully grounded in the history and music of his African American community, he has taken his studies deeper, ingeniously incorporating African music and instrumentation. His formal training is highlighted with studies in Ghana, west Africa: the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Music) School of Music: and the Sun Drummer Institute. He acknowledges philosopher and master drummer Harold Atu Murray as his most significant mentor.

El'Zabar is an accomplished musician with mastery of a variety of instruments to his credit from the elementary-congas, bongos, African drums, shehere, gongs, and trap drums - to the esoteric - balaphon, marimba, sanza, kalimba, balaphon, and berimbau. With such extensive knowledge, it is no wonder that he has performed and recorded world-wide luminaries as Dizzy Gillespie, Donny Hathaway, David Murray, Stevie Wonder, Henry Threadgill, and Paul Simon, to name a few.