It is apt that the thrums of a cool January morning at Lower Parel’s Kamala Mills are slowly setting the pace as we wait for two musicians at Koko. Gino Banks and Ustad Taufiq Qureshi might have a few decades separating them, but they share a natural chemistry that is inherent to those attuned to rhythms.

Their bonding is also one of comradeship. Both percussionists share a legacy of being born into musical royalty. “I grew up in a family of live musicians and performers,” Banks shares. For Qureshi, the journey began under the tutelage of his father, the legendary Ustad Allah Rakha Khan, but different rhythms caught his ear. “I would go crazy when I would hear Pancham Da [RD Burman] as a kid,” he shares with delight. It does not take us much to get the two jamming over food, fusion and fascinating stories as we dig into the opening course of karafuru salad and  some dim sum. 
 
Here are some edited excerpts from the interview: