"Shankar Ghosh's repertoire consists of unmatched wit. Through his tabla he can tell detailed stories and make his presence felt even as an accompanist" - that's sarod veteran Buddhadeb Dasgupta talking about Shankar Ghosh on his 70th birthday in 2005.

Dasgupta, who had played with Ghosh for a number of years, had labelled his tabla play a blend of suspense and surprise.

The veteran tabla player passed away on Friday night. "Lost him...The Emperor of Tabla My beloved father," tweeted his son, percussionist Bickram Ghosh, on Friday. Father and son first played together on stage in 1999.

Trained under Gyan Prakash Ghosh, Shankar Ghosh went on to perform with Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Vilayat Khan, Nikhil Banerjee and Amjad Ali Khan, among others. In 1962 Ghosh visited the US with Ali Akbar Khan, and for the next 10 years experimented with the percussion form with a variety of musicians, including The Grateful Dead.

Ghosh's many compositions became an intrinsic part of contemporary tabla repertoire. He also created the all-drum orchestra Music of the Drums (later called the Calcutta Drum Orchestra), and a concept called Rhythmic Harmony with the orchestra.

Different sections played different rhythmic forms of the same cycle, all at once, to create an overall groove different from the original component rhythms.

Ghosh had received the Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan award and the Sangeet Natak Academy award.

With a career spanning more than four decades, Ghosh also ventured into composing music for stage productions as well as theme albums.