Ed Hanley began his tabla (north Indian classical percussion) training in Toronto, Canada with Ritesh Das, and has studied with master drummers Swapan Chaudhuri in California and Anindo Chatterjee in Calcutta, India. His interest in all aspects of Indian classical rhythm have led him to study outside of the Hindustani tabla tradition as well, focusing on Karnatic (south Indian) vocal percussion and drumming traditions. He has studied nattuvangam (Bharatanatyam conducting) with Hari Krishnan, mrdangam repertoire and Karnatic rhythm theory with Karaikudi Mani in Chennai, India, and solkattu (vocal percussion), kanjira (a south Indian frame drum), mrdangam repertoire and improvisation with Dr. Trichy Sankaran in Chennai and Toronto. His studies have been supported by a number of funding bodies including The Canada Council, The Ontario Arts Council and The Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute.

Ed has performed across Canada, and in the USA, Europe and India in a variety of world, jazz and classical settings with artists such as vocalist Suba Sankaran, violinist Parmela Attariwala, clarinetist James Campbell, multi-instrumentalists George Koller and Donald Quan, Persian ensemble Mehrvarzan, percussionists Trichy Sankaran, Rick Lazar, Alan Hetherington and Vasudevan Rajalingam, flautist Ron Allen, Hindustani vocalist Vinayak Pathak, Sarangi master Ramesh Misra, and ensembles including autorickshaw, The Toronto Tabla Ensemble, The Penderecki Quartet and Jane Bunnett and the Spirits of Havana. His work can be heard on a number of recordings and film soundtracks.

Ed has composed, produced, and engineered a number of compositions for dance and film out of his own studio, and has co-produced two autorickshaw albums with Suba Sankaran, including the critically acclaimed, JUNO nominated CD, Four Higher.

 He is also a member of the recently formed Indo-Persian duo Naseem with Santoor virtuoso Pirouz Yousefian.

Then Hanley transformed song to spectacle with a brain-liquifying tabla solo, an onslaught of percussive sixteenth notes and syncopated shifts hammered out by his wrists and fingers with such precision that… well, you really had to be there.
Let's just say that as Hanley's beat went on, the man on my left purred like a cat savouring a sumptuous can of tuna."
-NOW Magazine