TRILOK GURTU AND TIGRAN HAMASYAN, QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL, LONDON
By Mike Hobart
September 26 2011 18:57
Trilok Gurtu is one of the world~Rs great fidgets. He can tap, rattle,
scrape and bang any object into a sublime symphony of rhythm ~V at
this gig, even the sloosh and drip of water in a fire bucket had
musical purpose. As the likes of Jan Garbarek and John McLaughlin
can testify, he is a natural scene-stealer.
Gurtu, a Kashmiri, was born in Mumbai and has visibly fused the music
of the Indian subcontinent with a host of other music. Tablas nestle
by a full drum kit, there are things to crash and shake and a box
drum to sit on when required. But though he may be a scene-stealer,
he is no showboater. Gurtu~Rs vision is complete and, as a short solo
spot confirmed, his soundscapes are sensuous and understated.
EDITOR~RS CHOICE Edward Simon Trio, Pizza Express Jazz Club, London –
Sep-25.Iness Mezel, Purcell Room, London – Sep-20.Brad Mehldau and
Chris Thile, Wigmore Hall, London – Sep-19.Matthew Shipp & Evan
Parker, Vortex, London – Sep-13.Marius Neset, Pizza Express Jazz
Club, London – Sep-04.Barry Harris, Pizza Express Jazz Club, London –
Aug-30..Here he was teamed with the Armenian piano prodigy Tigran
Hamasyan, who, like Gurtu, brings the music of his homeland to a
jazz-inflected world fusion ~V the evening opened with the dolorous
beauty and ghostly, flutelike tones of the duduk, a traditional
Armenian woodwind instrument.
Hamasyan played his first jazz festival when he was 11, but at this
gig, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Armenia~Rs independence,
Hamasyan appealed most when interpreting the sedate folk songs
and melancholic hymns of his homeland. Mournful clusters of notes
hovered over oddly spaced bass, stark chords rang monastically and
baroque decoration came with an acute sense of timing. Elsewhere,
his introductory showcase featured full-piano arpeggios and bombastic
thumps, twinkling single-note runs and rapid-fire riffs. There was
technique by the bucketload, but the many, oft-repeated patterns did
not hang together.
Hamasyan~Rs somewhat episodic approach gained considerably from
Gurtu~Rs direction and support. The long duet was freely developed ~V
there was many a nod and mutual glance ~V and the pianist~Rs tricks
and fancies sat well over chattering tablas, brushed snare and full-on
drum kit rock. There were set-piece endings, synchronised stabs and a
highlight vocal duet with Gurtu scatting tabla rhythms to Hamasyan~Rs
human beatbox pulse ~V lines were swapped, argued over and finally
brought to heel. The finale, a slow-burning climax, won the encore,
which, as Gurtu accurately explained, ~Swas the same again, but done
differently~T.
.
From: Baghdasarian