Ray began his study of music at age 6 o clarinet and started learning tabla at 13. Ray attended the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, CA starting in 1970 and continued his studies for may years in India. While his main teacher and influence is the famous tabla master Ustad Alla Rakha, Ray has also studied extensively with Ustad Zakir Hussain, and Sri B.S. Ramanna. He has performed and recorded Indian classical music with many top Indian artists such as Aashish Khan, Sultan Khan, Ravi Shankar, Barun Kumar Pal, Tejendra Mazumder, and vocalists Vidyadhar Vyas, Subhra Guha and Raka Mukherjee among others.
In the early 1970's Ray began private lessons with vibist Bobby Hutcherson, and attended classes by Bobby and Woody Shaw at the Both/And Jazz Club in San Francisco.
He is the founder of the Simla House record label and has produced many recordings, including Indo-jazz fusion releases, “Sum and Kali” and “Raga Jazz”, and archival tabla recordings by Ustad Ahmedjan Thirakwa (“Thirakwa” and “the Genius of Thirakwa”).

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