In India, drummer Zakir Hussain is as big as, take your pick: a) The Beatles; b) Elvis; c) Tupac; d) all of the above and more.

He plays the tabla, a kind of "talking drum" struck with the fingertips. With mind-boggling discipline and training, his fingers make these drums not only talk, but also sing hymns and arias. He can carry melodies and percussion at the same time, in blindingly fast and expressive patterns that would frustrate most Western drummers like a weekend golfer in a foursome with Tiger Woods.

In the Bay Area, we are lucky that Hussain has settled in Marin County for part of the year to escape the mobs and madness of his native land. He plays dates in small theaters here that would draw tens or hundreds of thousands of people in India.

And he has blended his music with Western musicians, including John McLaughlin, George Brooks and the Grateful Dead.

He plays at 5 p.m. Sunday at Campbell's Heritage Theater -- tickets are $25-$55 at (408) 866-2700 -- in an unusual quintet that includes Indian musicians Shankar and Gingger on double violins and vocals, Siva Mani on drums and percussion and Chris Opperman on keyboards.

Shankar was in Hussain's best-known outfit in the West, Shakti, before launching his own prolific career that has included pop and the soundtrack for Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."

But more important than the remarkable techniques of Indian musicians, who commit to their instruments with a singular focus, is the spiritual fervor they produce.