Atmic Vision playing Sandpoint, Spokane

Atmic Vision, a trio that mixes traditional Indian music with jazz-flavored improvisation, comes to the Inland Northwest for concerts on Saturday in Sandpoint and on Wednesday in Spokane.

It’s a collaboration between Indian musicians Annada (Butto) Prasanna Pattanaik on flute and Muthu Kumar Varadarajan on tabla (Indian drum), and Colorado music professor Paul Erhard on string bass.

They perform instrumental renditions of raga-based bhajan songs infused with improvisation and the rhythmic vitality of jazz.

The concerts will include selections from their new CD, “Expanding Horizons.”

Pattanaik, one of India’s foremost classical flutists, has toured and recorded extensively and performed on more than 1,000 songs for films made in Southern India.

While touring the United States in 2002-03, Varadarajan performed and recorded in genres ranging from jazz to gospel to hip-hop. Those influences inspired his latest solo CD, “Tabla Rap.”

Erhard, professor of double bass at the University of Colorado College of Music in Boulder, has made numerous trips to India to study.

Saturday’s concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Panida Theater in Sandpoint. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students 18 and under, in advance at Sandpoint Cinema 4, Pack River Potions and Eichardt’s Pub, and at the door. For information call (208) 255-7801.

Wednesday’s concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at The Met, 901 W. Sprague. Tickets are $20 for adults, $14 for seniors and students, through TicketsWest outlets (325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).