FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
Organization PERCUACTION - Global Percussion Network 

Legal ID Number: 900-315-377-9
Press contact Aida Calderon / Laura Bustamante 
Phone: +1 617 850 2919 / +49 1575 7797475
Email contact@percuaction.com 

Website: www.percuaction.com.

PERCUACTION - Global Percussion Network

presents the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award

to Indian Master Percussionist

TRILOK GURTU
 

New York, NY – October 1st, 2019: The Global Percussion Network PERCUACTION (pronounced PERK-oo-ACK-shun) is proud to officially inform the general public and the global rhythm community that the 2019 PERCUACTION Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Indian Master Percussionist pioneer TRILOK GURTU (born October 30th, 1951, in Mumbai, India / 67 years).

 

The 8th version of the Life Time Achievement Award will be presented to Mr. Gurtu by Tupac Mantilla in Germany, as part of the ongoing tour Mr. Trilok Gurtu has with the Jan Garbarek Group.

 

Mr. Gurtu's name will then be added to our prestigious list of award recipients that includes: 

Jose Luis Quintana 'Changuito', Reinhard Flatischler, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Remo Belli, Zakir Hussain, Keiko Abe and Keith Terry.

 

Trilok Gurtu began playing western drum kit in the 1970s, and developed interest in jazz. In a 1995 television special on Jimi Hendrix, Gurtu mentioned having initially learned Western music without awareness of overdubbing, which, he said, forced him to learn multiple parts which most musicians would have never attempted. In the 1970s, he played with Charlie Mariano, John Tchicai, Terje Rypdal, and Don Cherry. One of Gurtu's earliest recordings was around 1977 in the record Apo-Calypso in an album of the German ethnic fusion band, Embryo. His mother also sang in that record, and later joined him in his first solo CD, Usfret.

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In the 1980s, Gurtu played with Swiss drummer Charly Antolini and with John McLaughlin in McLaughlin's trio, accompanied variously by bassists Jonas Hellborg, Kai Eckhardt, and Dominique DiPiazza. The line-up with Hellborg performed at least one concert opening for Miles Davis in Berkeley, California in 1988. Collaboration between Gurtu and McLaughlin included vocal improvisations using the Indian tala talk method of oral drumming notations for teaching drum patterns. Sometimes, Eckhardt would join in with hip-hop beat-box vocals for a three-way vocal percussion jam, while Gurtu and McLaughlin would throw in a few amusing words such as some Japanese brand names mixed with some Indian words.

​

Some of the unusual aspects of Gurtu's drum playing include playing, without a drum stool, in a half-kneeling position on the floor, and use of an unconventional kick drum that resembles a large drum head with a kick-pedal, and a mix of tablas and western drums. Gurtu's unique percussion signature involves dipping cymbals and strings of shells into a bucket of water to create a shimmering effect

Gurtu joined Oregon after the death of drummer Collin Walcott. He played in three records produced by this band: Ecotopia (1987), 45th Parallel (1989), and Always, Never and Forever (1991). In the early 1990s, Gurtu resumed his career as a solo artist and a bandleader. Various noted musicians have backed him in a number of his CD releases.

​

In 1999, Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell founded a musical group, Tabla Beat Science, which played a mixture of Hindustani music, Asian underground, ambient, Drum and Bass, and Electronica. Gurtu joined this group along with Karsh Kale and Talvin Singh. The group released three albums before going dormant in late 2003.

​

In 2004, Gurtu created an album, Miles Gurtu, with Robert Miles. His collaboration with the Arkè String Quartet began in 2007 with the release of the album Arkeology In 2010, Trilok Gurtu played on the album Piano Car, an opera of minimalist composer Stefano Ianne with Ricky Portera, Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo), Mario Marzi, Terl Bryant (John Paul Jones/Led Zeppelin), John De Leo.[3]

In 2012, Trilok Gurtu collaborated with electronic folk duo Hari & Sukhmani in their hometown of Chandigarh and produced a song 'Maati' on the music documentary-travelogue The Dewarists.

[Wikipedia reference].

 

For PERCUACTION it is a great honor to have and welcome master TRILOK GURTU joining the group of percussion luminaries that have been awarded with our organization’s highest recognition.

 

For more information please visit: https://www.percuaction.com/awards