For the new Tala Matrix, maverick American producer Bill Laswell corralled four geographically dispersed Indian and Anglo-Indian percussionists — master musician Zakir

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Hussain, Trilok Gurtu, Talvin Singh and Karsh Kale — under the name Tabla Beat Science for a rhythm fest to be reckoned with.

"FedEx was probably our major collaborator," Laswell said, laughing, about the tabla-centric project's logistics.

"It documents some of the places where tabla has found a home," Kale said. "There's never been a record that's focused on the tabla itself before." The tabla's nuances, often lost behind other instruments, became the record's main voice, carrying both melody and beat.

Laswell had previously worked with Hussain, best known as an Indian classical musician and percussionist with groundbreaking Indian-jazz fusionists Shakti, on projects involving hip-hop breakbeats. For Tabla Beat Science, however, Laswell wanted to feature the tabla as a solo instrument, then use "contemporary beat construction and atmosphere."

Hussain — with what Laswell characterized as "virtuosic repetition and musicality" — provides the album's focus. "No one playing rhythm even approaches him," Laswell said. Hussain is featured on five of the album's 10 tracks, including "Magnetic" (RealAudio excerpt), where he is accompanied by sarangi (Indian fiddle) player Ustad Sultan Khan.

The collaboration also demonstrates the instrument's range. Hussain comes from the classical tradition and Gurtu from jazz, while Singh and Kale represent the tabla-tronics of the young Asian Underground dance scene, with drum & bass almost their native rhythms.

The musicians used both tape and digital transmissions to exchange musical information. Laswell (whose album credit reads "conceived and constructed by ...") commissioned the musicians, then assembled and mixed the tracks. While the musicians were rarely in the same room at the same time, a consistent sensibility is evident throughout. "It wasn't planned," Laswell said, "it just worked. It took a long time to coordinate, and I had to establish how the pieces fit together."

Kale, who contributed "Palmistry" (RealAudio excerpt), had worked previously with Laswell and Singh. "The album is a compilation of ideas," he said. "The way Bill put it together, it's a journey — and it's fitting that it begins with Zakir. It demonstrates the influence he had on the other tracks. Trilok adds another dimension on 'Big Brother' (RealAudio excerpt), showing there are still other roads for the sound. This record is a first step."

The musicians may come together for a November live show in New York, schedules permitting. "We'll set up as a band," Kale, who's working on a solo record, said. "We're all multi-instrumentalists, so we'd get together and see what interactions result between us."

Kale hopes the disc introduces other musicians in particular to the world of Indian classical music. "Many musicians don't allow the music of the world to infiltrate their sound. But the people involved in this project are saying, 'It's OK; please follow through these doors.' "

Laswell, 45, has just finished producing a new album for jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock (whose seminal hip-hop/funk hit "Rockit" he produced on 1983's Future Shock) and is now remixing Carlos Santana's early-'70s devotional albums Love Devotion Surrender and Illuminations.

For Laswell, Tala Matrix represents a beginning, or at least a jumping-off point, rather than a finished project. He speculated on the possibility of a remix with up-and-coming DJs from the Asian Underground scene.

"Nothing I do is meant to be absolute," he said. "It's just information on tape. Beats are processed and manipulated, and there are endless possibilities. Anyone's take on it would be valid. In the end it's just waves of sound."