The Galactic Center will present the music of the duo Leon Littlebird and Will Clipman, at 8 p.m., October 29. Littlebird and Clipman first met in 2012 as “Floating Artists-in-Residence” on a two-week Ancestral Voices of the Grand Canyon rafting expedition on the Colorado River. Their simpatico was immediate: not only did the mountain troubadour and the desert drummer become fast friends; they discovered an innate ability to improvise and compose together.

This led to a magical post-expedition concert at Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff, followed—perhaps inevitably, given their incessant individual performing and recording schedules—by a two-year divergence. Littlebird and Clipman always keep in touch, though, and kept the dream of further musical and spiritual adventures alive. Their duo concert at Tucson’s Galactic Center marks the resumption of their dynamic collaboration.

A third generation native of Colorado with ancestral roots in both Pioneer and Native American cultures, Littlebird is a consummate musician, recording artist and performer. In his 40-plus-year career, he has recorded nine albums and performed hundreds of concerts. His primary instruments are guitars, native flutes, voice and percussion. His passion for Native American flute music started as a child and has grown to include performing and recording ancient instruments in the traditional fashion, as well as with diverse genres from classical to Celtic, folk and jazz.

Clipman began playing his father’s drums and his mother’s piano at the age of three. He played his first professional gig at fourteen, and has since then mastered a pan-global palette of over 100 percussion instruments, in addition to the traditional drum set. Clipman has received seven Grammy nominations, including one for his solo world music album Pathfinder. He is also a three-time Native American Music Award Winner, a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award Winner, a New Age Reporter Music Award Winner and a two-time TAMMIE Award Winner, and has been inducted into the Tucson Musicians Museum for his contributions to the musical community in his hometown.

Cost: $15. Location: 35 E. Toole Ave., Tucson. For more information, call 520-884-0874 or visit Facebook.com/GalacticCenter. For more information about the artists, visit LittlebirdMusic.com and WillClipman.com.