John Ball has been performing Indian music for the last ten years playing the tabla drum and the one hundred stringed santoor accompanying sitarists, vocalists and dancers from the UK and abroad.
John is currently Musician in Residence at the University of Sheffield. He is also a member of Bandish - a new ensemble combining Indian Classical music, Jazz and traditional West African sounds to create a dynamic combination of raags, songs & beats. He is an enthusiastic teacher and workshop leader with several years experience of teaching in schools and colleges, working for established community organisations.
John studied music in Baroda, India between 1992 and 1996 with some of the finest Indian classical musicians. There, he learnt tabla with Sri Sudhir Saxena, a chief exponent of the Ajrara style of playing. In recent years, John has been guided in Tabla by Sri Yogesh Samsi. His Santoor Guru is Sri Harjinder Pal Singh, a senior disciple of Pt. Shivkumar Sharma.
John is currently on tour playing tabla with BBC 2008 World Music Award Winner Juldeh Camara and 10 piece eclectic band Rafiki Jazz.
John has also written liner notes for over 80 Senseworld Indian Clasical Music CD releases, and several titles for US based label RagaRanga.