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Tabla vaadak Pandit Samta Prasadji was as born on 20th July 1921 in Kabirchoura, Benares (Varanasi) in Uttar Pradesh. His was from a Gharana of Tabla and Pakhwaj players. Many of his ancestors were Pandits in Purab Baaj vaadan . Pandit Samta Prasadji music parampara starts from his grandfather Pt. Jagannath Mishraji and Pt. Pratap Maharajji. His father Pt. Harisunderji was popularly known as ‘Bacha Mitra’. Panditji was trained by his father from the age of seven. After his father’s demise, he was trained by Pt. Bikku Maharaj, a student of Pt. Baldev Sahaya. Long hours of practise had become an integral part of his life. His first performance was in 1942 at the Allahabad Sangeet Samellan. The audience was spellbound with his performance. He never looked back after then. He gained fame both as a solo as well as duet player. He gave performances in Kolkata, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chennai as well as in France, Russia and Scotland (Edinburgh). He was head of ‘Bharatiya Sanskritik Mandal’. Pandit Samta Prasadji has played tabla for many music composers. Some of the famous films were he has played the table are Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (1955), Basant Bahar (1956), Meri Surat Teri Aankhein (1963) and Sholay (1975). Famous music composer Rahul Dev Burman was his disciple. R. D. Burmanji recorded ‘Naache mun mora’ from Meri Soorat Teri Aankhein, the popular song sung by Mohd.Rafi only after Panditji came back from Benaras.
In 1994, he went to Pune for a programme organized by the institution ‘Naadroop’. He passed away suddenly after the programme.
Disciples
His son Pt. Kumarlal Mishra, Shashank Bakshi, Nitin Chaterjee, Kumarpanda, Rahul Dev Burman, Gurmeet Singh Bedi, Partha Mukherjee, Satyanarayan Bakshi.
Awards
1972: Padmashree
1979: Sangeet Naatak Akademi Award
1987: Rashtrapati Scholarship
1991: Padmabhushan