Percussionist Jon Seligman brings the world to audiences.

“I’ve been a musician all my life. I’ve been a jazz drummer for years. I started getting into Cuban ritual drumming in New York (Bata drumming). At the same time I was playing in Latin bands,” Seligman said.

From there, it was a natural progression for Seligman to begin studying African music — the roots of Cuban music, and then he followed Middle Eastern music.

Seligman will bring his experience and expertise with percussion styles from around the world as guest artist to the Western Slope Chamber Music series’ final concerts of the season Friday and Saturday in Grand Junction and Paonia.

He calls the compositions he wrote for these concerts “fusion music.”

“There will be elements of various world music — American jazz, renaissance, Muslim Spain from the 10th and 11th centuries,” Seligman said. “It’ll be a combination of folk material — west African, Spanish and Turkish — and original compositions.”

Joining Seligman on stage will be Paonia percussionist David Alderdice, Grand Junction musicians Tyme Mientka on both acoustic and electric cello, and Mick Wilson on clarinet, saxophone and tenor sax.

Seligman gained much of his knowledge of world music from studying off and on for 10 years with Glen Velez, who has studied and played extensively with people of different cultures.

Currently, Seligman is studying with a “master Lebanese musician” — Michel Merhej — where he’s learning all styles of Arabic music.

Both Seligman and Alderdice will play the riqq — an Arabic tambourine and the primary drum of Arabic classical music.

“David and I will be playing a riqq duet, and I’ll probably play a riqq solo,” Seligman said.

The concert will also include two full drum sets, as well as frame drums from North Africa, Egypt, Central Asia, Persia and India.

“It’ll be a great family show — especially for kids aspiring to play the drums,” said Mientka, who along with his wife, Kathryn, is director of the chamber music series.

Numbers will range from percussion duets to a full ensemble including the cello and reed instruments.

During the concert Seligman will sometimes ask the other musicians to jump in without any preplanned progressions.

“As classically trained musicians we’re not trained to improvise,” Mientka said. “We are all going to be improvising. We’ll be composing on the spot, on the stage. It’s kind of liberating.”

Seligman is an award-winning jazz composer who teaches at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md.

Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.