Live review: Trilok Gurtu

Published on Thursday 28 January 2010 18:03

TRILOK GURTU BAND *** GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL

PINNING genre classifications on percussionist Trilok Gurtu is a slippery business. He is an Indian musician steeped in their classical tradition with a long history of involvement in jazz, but is rarely content to draw the line there. His last visit to Scotland featured a very diverse cast for the opening of Perth Concert Hall, and he took a similar approach here, albeit on a smaller scale.

His own five-piece band featured a saxophonist and a violinist who doubled on keyboards, along with electric guitar and bass. They began in rather desultory fashion, but warmed to the task, although they retained a slightly dated jazz-fusion feel on some of the material.

Gurtu's own amalgam of western drum-kit and Indian hand drums allows him both the power to kick the band on in classic jazz-rock fashion, and to feature more subtle shades of percussive colour and rhythms. He unveiled his familiar trick with hand gongs and a bucket of water, and his rhythmic energy and eclectic store of ideas were generally at the heart of proceedings.

His guests included Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and Indian singer Shankar Mahadevan. Their vibrant exchanges lit up a variety of material, from contemporary Indian pop to Garbarek's folk-influenced compositions.

Scottish band Lau were also in the mix, and rose to the challenge after a delayed arrival on stage (like us, they anticipated an interval that never came).