Trilok Gurtu

[Freddie Freeloader]

how many of you guys have heard him??
i got his album 'kathak' back in '99 and it was a real eye-opener for me. over the years, i've managed to get almost all of his albums, and the coolest part is how different each one is from the other.
right now, he's doing that indo-afro-pop thing, but the albums he did in between like 'believe' and 'bad habits die hard' are almost jazz-rock/funk fusion and i know some of you guys will love that stuff.
also, one album everyone should check out is the john mclaughlin trio 'live at the royal festival hall' with gurtu on drums and kai eckhardt on bass... infact, if i'm not mistaken, that album is one of vinnie colaiuta's favourite albums.

he's got it all, the groove, the chops and his own instantly identifiable (and now widely copied) sound.

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Trilok_Gurtu.html

[hotsauce3n]

how many of you guys have heard him??
.


iv definately heard of him and seen him. dipping the cymbals in water was very cool when i first saw that. i have not yet had a chance to check out any of his albums which i am now going to do... also since vinnie c. was a student from who i am currently taking lessons with now :)

[finnhiggins]

also, one album everyone should check out is the john mclaughlin trio 'live at the royal festival hall' with gurtu on drums and kai eckhardt on bass... infact, if i'm not mistaken, that album is one of vinnie colaiuta's favourite albums.


Really? That's weird. I had a video of the whole McLaughlin/Gurtu/Eckhard thing and I thought it was stunningly dull, even as somebody who normally likes Trilok Gurtu and occasionally likes John McLaughlin. Lots of chops, but not much else. Apart from Trilok in his bastard-ugly-mustache phase.

I've got another video of Trilok's band playing somewhere in France and it's awesome. Far better than that McLaughlin gig. Not just on the music front, Trilok is playing a whole load better too. He's using a bass drum too!

[studentofrhythm]

I bought "Bad Habits Die Hard" second hand 7 years ago, and it's been a sort of sleeper hit with me ever since. I'd like to hear more of him, but that disc alone is full of inspiring ideas.

[Anduin]

Trilok has done some fabulous stuff. I love the way he blends styles from around the world.

For bonus points, identify the link between Gurtu and Level 42.

[Raymond Bloom]

I really like his album - Miles_Gurtu, awsome stuff!

[Crazy]

This guy is realy amazing....has anyone seen him play on a standard drum kit do you think he has developed "four way corrdination" ?

[anijtj]

Yes, the guy is amazing. Infact one of the only two indian drummers I have seen, who can match with international standards.. The other one is Renjit Barot. He is a proper drumkit player rather than a percussionist of some sort...

[drumangelo]

Hello felow groovers.

I posted this video on my site recently of the great Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu.
If any of you are not familiar with his work now's a good time to discover him.
truly amazing!!

www.myspace.com/angelofrisina

peace out!!

[Wile E. Coyote]

Well, he's just great. I had a course with him some years ago. I think I got stuff to practise my whole life.
Unfortunately his last records got a little bit commercial to my taste. It's a pitty that he doesn't record extreme things lately, but that's what he wants, and he's great, so I have to respect that!

[stepan jazzy]

he is not only a master of Indian music, tabla, percussion, he is also a great philosopher!!! Bhangra electronica to juju soul, Afro-Asian funk to raga-pop, Trilok Gurtu declares a global universal vision. “We make bridges, not barriers” says Gurtu, “This is what the world requires”..

[Wile E. Coyote]

he is not only a master of Indian music, tabla, percussion, he is also a great philosopher!!! Bhangra electronica to juju soul, Afro-Asian funk to raga-pop, Trilok Gurtu declares a global universal vision. “We make bridges, not barriers” says Gurtu, “This is what the world requires”..
Well... It didn't feel like he was a philosopher when I had a course with him...
"Play 4/4, and with electronics... you won't get any money otherwise"
He's an awesome player though...

[stepan jazzy]

Yeah, that is right, today he plays 4/4 music, and with electronics. But remember what he did. He was an important part of the quartet that L. Shankar led with Jan Garbarek and Zakir Hussain. In 1993 Trilok toured his own trio in support of the album "The Crazy Saints", which featured not only Joe Zawinul but also Pat Metheny. I think that his philosophy is deeper than it seems.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Yeah, that is right, today he plays 4/4 music, and with electronics. But remember what he did. He was an important part of the quartet that L. Shankar led with Jan Garbarek and Zakir Hussain. In 1993 Trilok toured his own trio in support of the album "The Crazy Saints", which featured not only Joe Zawinul but also Pat Metheny. I think that his philosophy is deeper than it seems.

Of course! I completely agree with you. I just think it's a shame that he stopped doing what he used to do!

[aydee]

This guy is realy amazing....has anyone seen him play on a standard drum kit do you think he has developed "four way corrdination" ?

Thats how he began. A drum set player, who then deconstructed it with all the other percussion and tabla additions.

[Toza]

trilok is king !

[mutant]

I first heard Trilok Gurtu on the Oregon album 45th Parallel. I really liked how punchy and wet his bass drum sounded, not to mention his playing. Then I saw him live in the John McLaughlin trio with Kai Eckhardt. He had a very unique kit setup and way of playing, it was somewhere in between what I would think of as a jazz fusion drummer and a percussionist.

At one point during the show he did a solo and used this large kind of pot filled with water and made interesting sounds, as I recall maybe even using his voice and dropping something like a coin into the water.

But overall the thing that really freaked me out was that he sat down on the floor and I dont think actually even used his foot to play bass drum patterns. Originally listening to the Oregon album I was picturing someone sitting down "normally" playing a "normal" drum kit.

After the show all the drummers gathered around his unusual looking kit. I noticed he used this kind of Plexiglass frame with what looked like 3 larger sized rototoms embedded in it, one of which was probably a 20" that he used for bass drum. I think it might have had hydraulic heads on it or something, because if you listen to that Oregon album the rototom like bass drum sounded very wet like he might have used those kind of heads. If anybody knows what that rorotom frame thing he had was, I always would have loved to know. He also had a very small maybe 10" snare? which sat mere inches above the floor on this little stand underneath it.

Trilok Gurtu obviously is one of a kind.