Balle Khan was one of the many great tabla players that settled in Pakistan after Partition. He was a disciple of the Delhi gharana, but clearly also had a deep knowledge of very old masters from Lucknow and Farukhabad. Balle Khan Sahib also learned from Abbu Khan Jilwanewale, whose peshkar he plays here. It is not the usual manner of peshkar presentation, but one that is rare or even extinct nowadays: there are three progressive density levels, and the variations are relatively strict, in the manner of a qaida. This is music for the purist.