Trilok Gurtu has an international reputation as a musician who has appeared alongside stars as diverse as groundbreaking percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, Cuban ballad singer Omara Portuondo and former Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore.
An eye-catching – and ear-catching – feature of his performances involves lowering gongs and shakers into water to alter their tones and create the atmosphere of a rainforest, and before he became established, promoters were often puzzled by the requirement of a metal bucket among his contractual requests. Then they saw and heard why he requested it.
The son of vocalist Shobha Gurtu, a legendary figure in Indian classical music known as the Thumri Queen, Gurtu initially became known in jazz through his work with guitarists John McLaughlin and Pat Metheny, saxophonists Jan Garbarek and Pharoah Sanders and keyboardist and founder of the Weather Report group, Joe Zawinul. He has gone on to appear with world music favourites Salif Keita, Angelique Kidjo, Omara Portuondo, and Tuvan throat singers, Huun Huur Tu and has recorded and toured with Italian virtuosi, the Arke String Quartet, and former Police guitarist Andy Summers.
A formally trained percussionist, Gurtu has developed a highly expressive, completely individual playing style, which as well as his water music effect, incorporates table and a customised drum kit, which he plays crouching onstage.
For SNJO founder-artistic director, saxophonist Tommy Smith, working with Gurtu offers an opportunity to return an invitation that saw Smith touring America and Europe with Gurtu in the 1990s.
“Following the release of Trilok’s Bad Habits Die Hard album, from which 21 Spices takes its name, he asked me to join his band on tour,” says Smith. “It was an unforgettable experience. Trilok is a genuinely unique musician and his music is exciting and brilliantly imaginative. This will take the SNJO and our audience into a sound world that’s very different to the one generally occupied by orchestral jazz. It’s a very exciting prospect.”
Gurtu’s compositions have been arranged for the SNJO by the German percussionist, pianist, composer and conductor, Wolf Kerschek, who has worked in situations from jazz big bands and philharmonic orchestras to conducting football’s World Cup anthem and participating in Sesame Street.
“Kerschek is an amazingly versatile musician and arranger and we’re really looking forward to bringing his orchestrations of Trilok’s music to the stage,” says Smith. “Knowing his work and having played with Trilok, I’m sure this concert will be exhilarating for everyone – the audience as well as the musicians.”