A renowned master musician and composer, Gurtu has been at the forefront of innovative musical collaborations for the past twenty years. 

The son of one of India’s most beloved classical singers, Shobha Gurtu, Trilok first picked up the tabla at the age of six. He went on to invent a peerless style, blending contemporary rock and jazz forms with classical Indian techniques, and developing an unorthodox East-West drum kit, with Western drums arranged on the ground, Indian-style, alongside his tablas and percussion instruments.

A four-time winner of the Down Beat Critic’s poll in the Best Percussionist category, Gurtu’s technique is indisputable and his résumé speaks for itself: he has performed with a host of the world’s greatest musicians. Don Cherry, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinul, Pat Metheny, Bill Evans, Angelique Kidjo and Oumou Sangare have guested on his recordings. 

Trilok has in turn appeared on albums by John McLaughlin, Pharoah sanders, Nitin Sawhney, Lalo Schifrin, Gilberto Gil and Bill Laswell, Gurtu’s music often finds its way onto the turntables of UK producer/DJs like Talvin Singh and Asian Dub Foundation.On last year’s African Fantasy album, his Blue Thumb debut, Gurtu developed an innovative marriage of African and Indian musical traditions. 

On the Beat of Love, Gurtu widens and deepens the interplay between African and Indian Musical forms, achieving an even richer integration of the two by featuring more Indian vocalists and combining vocals from Indian and African artists. “We have the sense of both continents all the way through,” explains Badarou. “Some tracks have the Indian taking the lead and the African backing, some songs in reverse. I hope we achieved a synthesis of both.”  

For his latest recording project, Indian-born Gurtu pairs with West African producer Wally Badarou. Gurtu and Badarou drew deep inspiration from Gurtu’s previous Blue Thumb release, African Fantasy, as they traveled to the capitals of Africa and India, gathering rhythms, street songs and musical friends, preparing to record the project. 

They assembled the stories and sounds they found with the help of Grammy-winning engineer Matt Howe (Lauryn Hill) and Squeeze’s Chris Difford (who wrote the lyrics for “Ola Bombay” in addition to supervising part of the recording at his Helioscentric studio in East Sussex, England). 

The result is a forward-thinking mix of trans-national world music styles, impossible to create or capture at any other time or in any other hands.“We make bridges, not barriers,” says Gurtu of The Beat of Love’s sociopolitical subtext, “This is what the world requires.” Setting out to express the common threads between traditional African and Indian music within the tapestry of contemporary world-pop, Gurtu let his instinct and experience guide the production. “Technique is OK to prove your art, but it’s not everything. Only feelings will reach the people.”

In 2005, The Trilok Gurtu Collection came out. It assembled some of master percussionist Trilok Gurtu?s best tracks from the CMP catalog, where Trilok released albums over a span of 20 years, on this Silva Screen Treasury reissue (SIL-CD-3014 UPC 738572301422). The record came out June 6th, at a reduced price point. The Trilok Gurtu Collection features some of his most memorable collaborations, including the Gurtu/Zawinul ?Ballad for Two Musicians?, and the tribute to his great friend Don Cherry ?Cherry Town?. Also featured are saxophonist Jan Garbarek, percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, saxophonist Bill Evans, guitarists Pat Matheney, Ralph Towner and David Gilmore, Indian vocalist Shobha Gurtu, violinist L. Shankar, and his long-time friend, trumpet player Don Cherry.

Usfret (CMP Records, 1988)

Living Magic (CMP Records, 1991)

Crazy Saints (CMP Records, 1993)

Believe (CMP Records, 1994)

Bad habits die hard (CMP Records, 1996)

The glimpse (CMP Records, 1997)

Kathak (Cream Records, 1998)

African fantasy (Blue Thumb Records 543 821/Cream Records (1999)

The beat of love (Blue Thumb Records 549745, 2001)

Remembrance (Universal, 2002)

The Trilok Gurtu Collection (Silva Screen Treasury SIL-CD-3014, 2005)