Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso Tabla player of India. He travels widely across the world throughout the year performing in numerous festivals as a soloist or with other outstanding musicians from both Indian and western musical traditions. His compositions are widely acclaimed as well as his writings.

Chatterjee began his studies early with Pandit Bankim Ghosh, Pt. Balaram Mukherjee, Pt. Rathin Dhar and Mohammad Salim. His later formation as a musician occurred under the guidance of Pt. Amalesh Chatterjee (since 1966) and Pt. Shyamal Bose (since 1984). All of Samir's teachers have been from the Farrukhabad Gharana (school) of Tabla-playing, which he now represents.

Samir Chatterjee is an A-rated artist of the national radio and television of India. He can be heard on numerous recordings featuring as soloist, accompanying many of India's greatest musicians and in collaboration with western musicians of outstanding caliber. In concert Samir has accompanied many of India's greatest musicians including Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ud. Vilayat Khan, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Nikhil Banerjee, Pt. V.G. Jog, Pt . Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, M. S. Gopalakrishnan, Ud. Amjad Ali Khan, Ud. Salamat Ali Khan, Smt. Lakshmi Shankar, Ud. Ashis Khan, Ud. Shujat Khan, Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty, Ud. Rashid Khan, Pt. Tejendra N. Mazumdar, Pt. Debashish Bhattacharya, to name only a few.

Samir Chatterjee lives in New York-New Jersey area, where he has become a catalyst in the fusion of Indian and Western music, performing with Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Dave Douglas, Myra Melford, Steve Gorn, Glen Velez, Boby Sanabria, Ben Verdery, Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Philharmonic, Ethos Percussion group, Da Capo Chamber Orchestra, Boston Musica Viva and other jazz, classical and avant guard musicians and ensembles. He is member of jazz trio SYNC with Ned Rothenberg and Jerome Harris and quintet Inner Diaspora together with Mark Feldman and Eric Friedlander. He also collaborates with Sufi-Rock singer Salman Ahmad of Junoon. He is also the composer and director of Nacho Nacho - Gypsy Storyteller and Chhand-Anand, World percussion Ensemble and Dawn to Dusk and Beyond. He performs with Sanjay Mishra on his CD "Blue Incantation" featuring Jerry Garcia as guest artist. Samir recently performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway on December 10th, 2008.

Samir Chatterjee has been teaching for the last 30 years and many of his students are established performers. He is the Founder-Director of CHHANDAYAN, an organization dedicated to promoting and preserving Indian music and culture. He is the author of a comprehensive 654-page book entitled ‘A Study of Tabla’. He is on the faculty at Manhattan School of Music, University of Pittsburgh, New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and University of Bridgeport in CT. He also contributes to several newspapers and periodicals. He won gold medal for his proficiency in a musical examination (equivalent to B.Mus.). He has two master degrees, in English and History.

Press Clippings:

This was almost painfully reflective music, ending, finally, in an exuberant improvisatory interchange with Samir Chatterjee, whose Tabla playing also seemed less percussive than vocal. – The New York Times, 11/10/94.

The superb tabla player Samir Chatterjee joined the conversation in the second movement, ...Chatterjee’s intricate drumming over Technicolor splashes from the orchestra. Chatterjee’s solo legerdemain foreshadowed a violin cadenza, ...an extended give-and-take between the two enthused soloists anchored the finale, ...propelled by Chatterjee’s rhythmic authority... – Boston Globe (Matthew Guerrieri), October 22nd, 2007 (about Swara Yantra of Shirish Korde performed with Boston Philharmonic)

This (‘Phoolan Devi Songs’ with Da Capo Chamber Orchestra at Markin Concert Hall) is a colorful, attractive piece,  ….The highlight was the tabla playing of Samir Chatterjee in the final scene, which stood out from the other instruments with the kind of vivid, exciting performance that draws Western composers to a non-western music in the first place. - Anne Midgette, The New York Times, June 8th, 2006

The remarkable tabla virtuoso Chatterjee's playing is rather unique among tabla artists as his impeccable mastery of rhythm is expressed with a rather vocal-like quality. His tabla speaks the patterns, adding a commentary to the rhythm and interplay with the sitar. A fine collaboration. - Allan Evans, Rhythm, September 1996

Chatterjee, who can sing and then play back the most complex patterns in the manner of great masters, also senses how to highlight more compact, swing-oriented parts through shifts in accents and dynamics. – The Boston Globe, October 16, 1998

Samir Chatterjee gave detailed and forceful Tabla Lahara (solo)...The crispness and clarity of his ‘bol’s and balanced synchronization of ‘Tabla’ (the right- hand drum) and ‘Bayan’ (the left-hand drum) made his recital quite enjoyable. – The Statesman, Calcutta, 08/29/87.

Displaying consummate control and perfection, the artiste (Samir Chatterjee) enthralled the listeners with a very traditional and systematic exposition of ‘Jhamptaal’. Some of the ‘Quidas’ and ‘Tukre’ (types of compositions) were delectable for their intricacy and close finishing. –The Telegraph, Calcutta, September, 1987.