Trilok GURTU - Kathak 1998

Trilok GURTU - Kathak 1998

Jazz

As a producer and sideman, Bombay-born percussionist and singer Trilok Gurtu has become something of a godfather to London's emerging Asian Underground movement (his relationship with Asian Dub Foundation having earned him particularly strong street credibility in recent years), but he's also been quietly releasing solo albums for the last decade. The latest finds him teamed up with bassist Kai Eckhardt de Camargo (good luck sorting out the ethnicity of that name), guitarist Jaya Deva, sitar player Ravi Cherry, and several high-profile guests (including Neneh Cherry, who sings a touching tribute to Ravi's and her late stepfather) for a program of cross-cultural jamming. Worldbeat fusion is always a dicey prospect, and while this album has many attractive moments, it never really comes into focus. "Seven Brings Return" meanders, at first hypnotically, then stultifyingly, for over eight minutes, and the wanky Steve Lukather guitar solo in the middle doesn't help. However, there's an equally meandering, but much more melodically interesting, bass solo on "You, Remember This" that works very well. "Brasilian" is a mostly unsuccessful attempt at a fusion of Indian and Brazilian influences, and "Who Knows the Mind" is downright weird-a love songs that segues into a sort of progressive rock crossed with bhangra, again for over eight minutes. All of this stuff is pleasant enough, but little of it is very compelling.
By Rick Anderson, All Music Guide.
**
Trilok Gurtu- Drums, Tabla, Percussion, Voice
Jaya Deva Ganawa- Voice, Guitar Except *Seven Rings Return*
Kai Eckhardt de Camargo- Electric bass
Ravi Chary- Sitar, Harmonium
Theodosii Spassov- Kaval
Steve Lukather- Guitar
Shobha Burtu- Vocals
Neneh Cherry- Vocals
**
01. Ganapati 3:51
02. You, Remember this 5:45
03. Seven brings return 8:28
04. Shunyai 8:30
05. Who the mind 8:47
06. Kathak 6:40
07. Brazilian 4:38
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Trilok GURTU - Usfret 1988

Trilok GURTU - Usfret 1988
Recorded between 1987 and 1988

Jazz

Trilok Gurtu's name should be quite familiar to anyone following the exploits of Oregon, or to the those whose knowledge of Indian music is at least as deep as encompassing, say, Shankar. Gurtu's formidable percussion skills have been a unifying factor in the post-Colin Walcott Oregon and serve as the supple glue that gives this sterling recording its backbone.
USFRET is further testament to Gurtu's resounding and innovative voice. He is given free reign to explore his magical Indian roots, bringing along his spouse Shobha and her beautiful voice alongside fellow Oregon member Ralph Towner and the perennially vital musicianship of Nana Vasconcelos, Jan Garbarek, Jonas Hellborg, and Daniel Goyone. USFRET really cooks, as Gurtu and his stalwart ensemble lock into a number of hefty grooves cloaked in that wondrously intoxicating Indian ambience. Between Towner's guitars and Gurtu's percussions, the band whips into heated, frenzied jazz jams--proto-gamelan music that simply delights the senses.
**
Seriously, what a masterpiece this one is. Released wayback in 1987, this album still rocks. The lovely alaps(vocals), the unbeatable beats, the mesmerising compositions... aaah.. its simply too good. Featuring Shobha Gurtu (Trilok's mom), Don Cherry, Ralph Towner, Shankar, Daniel Goyne and more... this album is 'percussion music' redefined. This one happens to be Gurtu's first solo album, which apparently was way ahead of its time.
The album begins with Shobharock and by the end of this 7 1/2 min track, you get to know whats in store for you ahead. Phenomenal compositions that leave you breathless and moreover all the tracks are placed in an order, that lets you take a breather (or) t(w)oo.

All in all, Usfret, a landmark album in itself, proved to be an inspiration to so many, that we can still see its poor imitations.
A must buy for all you music lovers. Welcome to the land of percussion music (where Trilok Gurtu rules the roost).
By  Aditya Parwatkar.
**
This is actually the album claimed to be the biggest influence to musicians at the London clubscene, such as; Asian dub foundation, Nitin sawhney and Talvin Singh.
Usfret has reasently been recognized as the first "drum and bass" album - ever made (in 1988!)- that's what I call ahead of his time.
Trilok Gurtu has been rewarded several times; Downbeats readers poll - 7 years (worlds greatest percussionist). BBC worldmusic award, Carlton television ect.
And where ever you go in musical invironments, you will hear people talk about Trilok with awe.
If your standards are high, and you only accept the best contemporary music; BUY THIS ALBUM!!! (it's already a classic)
By Alec Bridgewater.
**
Trilok Gurtu- (Vocals, Drums, Congas, Tablas, Percussion);
Shobha Gurtu- (Vocals);
Don Cherry- (Trumpet);
Shankar- (Violin);
Daniel Goyone- (Piano, Keyboards);
Ralph Towner- (Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar);
Jonas Hellborg- (Bass);
Walter Quintus- (Tambura).
**
A1. Shobharock 7:35 
A2. Shangri La/Usfret 13:00 
B1   Om 7:09 
B2   Deep Tri 7:02 
B3   Goose Bumps 4:22 
B4   Milo 4:15 
**
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Trilok GURTU & Arke String Quartet - Arkeology 2007

Trilok GURTU & Arke String Quartet - Arkeology 2007
Label: Promo

Jazz

Trilok Gurtu, the great Indian world-music percussionist, plays the Jazz Cafe in London on Monday with this lineup, and it will be interesting to see how he gets on in what can be a sonically competitive environment with a lot of quiet themes and four quiet partners. Gurtu is the only improvising soloist here (on staccato, percussion-mimicking vocals as well as a multiplicity of instruments), and contributes three out of 10 compositions - the others are by the chamber group members.
The Arke Quartet have shrewdly and musically lent an ear to a lot of world-music materials - from a softly singing microtonal quality reminiscent of Chinese violin music, to the rhythmic devices of Indian classical music and a Shakti-like Indo-jazz fusion, to a Celtic skip, an ambient tone-poetry sigh and much more. So, although perhaps the samplings from these different cultures don't entirely escape the local equivalents of hot licks, the programme is very varied, sensitively played and affectingly melodic - and Gurtu's famously tumultuous jamming against it is as inventive as ever.
By John Fordham.
**
From his work with the African Divas to house producer Robert Miles, Gurtu has been nothing if not eclectic in the last few years, making a mockery of the Indo-jazz maestro epithet often lazily slapped on him. He can bring a great deal of rhythmic trickery and textural finesse to just about any situation and this meeting with the Arke String quartet is no exception to the rule. It’s not so much what Gurtu plays as what he doesn’t play that impresses here.
Trilok Gurtu-Arke String Quartet - Arkeology
On many tracks he is discreet and understated, supplying the faintest of pulses while the strings swirl around him, the sense of space a key part of the aesthetic of the disc. While the chamber music resonances are clear enough, there is a fascinating composite vocabulary that emerges with many pieces steeped in a Mediterranean, quasi-folkish sound that is both rousingly danceable and emotively lyrical. It’s interesting to think that Gurtu first ventured into similar territory as a member of the group Oregon many decades ago so this setting isn’t entirely new to him. But as with much of his recent work, he brings a discerning touch to the table that shows him to be a musician of great maturity and consummate judgment. And Arke quartet are simpatico partners. A successful, enjoyable meeting of minds and musical worlds. 
By Kevin Le Gendre.
**
TRILOK GURTU- Tabla, Drums, Percussion, Flute, Voice
CARLO CANTINI- Violin, Dilruba, Recorder, Kalimba
VALENTINO CORVINO- Violin
SANDRO DI PAOLO- Viola
STEFANO DALL’ORA- Doublebass, Ukelele.
**
01.Balahto (4:02)
02.Nanda (To My Mother) (3:42)
03.Kermansah (4:21)
04.Dea (4:19)
05.Fes (6:47)
06.Taranta Suite (6:39)
07.Yoragathupaga (5:48)
08.Folded Hands (7:30)
09.Skopje (5:33)
10.Sveva (3:17)
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Trilok GURTU & The Frikyiwa Family - Farakala 2006

Trilok GURTU & The Frikyiwa Family - Farakala  2006
Label: Frikyiwa

Jazz

Recorded in southern Mali in the village of Farakala, Trilok Gurtu’s new album is a unique and surprising production. Having explored for some time the similarities between Indian and African music, this is the first time that he has actually recorded in the sub-Saharan bush. The result is a subtle and deep Afro-Indian combination arrived at through combining south-Malian percussive styles with the rhythmic influences of his own Indian heritage. The originality of tracks like "Santour", "Di Blues", "Dougoukolo", and "Roots No Fruits" testify to the success of this mix.
Profound, sensual, upbeat and liberating, this is an album of instinctive yet well developed styles that, as a result of Trilok Gurtu's innovative styles and erudition, escapes the cliché of being labeled just another fusion album…
**
Gurtu is a boundary-stretching Indian drummer who has done everything from playing with John McLaughlin and Pat Metheny to taking the late Collin Walcott's place in Oregon. The Frikyiwa family are a group of very gifted and imaginative Malian guitarists, drummers, and vocalists from the same part of the world as Ali Farka Toure. This album was recorded in their "nomadic studio" in the desert, and it's mind-blowingly beautiful. Every track creates a different vibe -- from very spare guitar with female vocals to stuff that almost sounds like the music in David Byrne's dreams -- but it all feels wonderfully warm and unified. It's haunting, subtle, visionary music. Any fan of the gentler, moodier side of African music should pick this album up right away.
By Stephen Silberman.
**
Trilok Gurtu is best known for his percussion work melding Indian music and jazz. This time he takes on an entirely new challenge, working with West African musicians from the Frikyawa label. On the surface, the two styles don't go together, but in the hands of Gurtu and the others -- kora, electric kora, calabash, and ngoni -- it becomes something of a trance feast with its feet quite firmly in African soil (all the more surprising since Gurtu wrote all but one of the cuts here). Interestingly, Gurtu's presence throughout is largely understated, leaving the spotlight to the others, most especially singer Hadja Kouyate, whose vocal and tonal range is nothing less than stunning. The percussion is often simply atmosphere, as on "Mil-Jul," but that's fine. Gurtu is a past master at knowing what to put in or leave out to enhance a song. Here he proves that imagination and good taste transcend continents.
By Chris Nickson, All Music Guide.
**
Ngou Bagayoko- Guitar, Background Vocal
Hadja Kouyate- Vocals, Background Vocal
Ali Boulo Santo- Vocals, Kora
Trilok Gurtu- Percussion, Shekere, Balafon
**
01. Agne Yano 3:37  
02. Mil-jul 5:21
03. Dhine Dhadhin 6:27
04. Doukhontou 4:13
05. Kalpana 5:36
06. Swapan 5:10
07. Roots No Fruits 5:40
08. Soumou 4:21 
09. Di Blues Indian 3:58
10. Farakala 3:35
**
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