{"id":21,"date":"2018-03-18T22:31:39","date_gmt":"2018-03-18T22:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/?p=21"},"modified":"2018-05-17T12:09:38","modified_gmt":"2018-05-17T11:09:38","slug":"week-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/2018\/03\/18\/week-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Jazz Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maya<\/strong><\/a><\/h1>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Artist:\u00a0<\/strong>Trilok Gurtu<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

\u00a0Country:<\/strong>\u00a0 India 2001<\/span><\/h2>\n

Album:\u00a0<\/b>The Beat of Love<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

A reaction by Frances, Charlie, Gibson and Helen.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

All of these statements are true reactions to\u00a0Maya<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>by people who don’t consider themselves to be professional musicians or ethnomusicologists.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

So… Who is he?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trilok Gurtu is a percussionist and composer who was born in Mumbai, India in 1951. Raised as Hindu, Gurtu attended high school but his main focus was always his music as he learnt to play the table under teach Shah Abdul Karim. Moving on from table, Gurtu began to play the drum kit in the early 1970s and from this he developed an interest in jazz. For much of his early career Gurtu would play for other musicians alongside releasing his own solo material, a notable collaboration being with John McLaughlin<\/a>. Together they created many vocal improvisation techniques as well as oral drumming notations for teaching drum patterns. Gurtu was known for his unsual way of play, this included playing without a stool in a kneeling position on the floor as well as mixing table and western drums. Gurtu joined the band Oregon <\/em><\/a>after the death of their drummer and remained with them for four years, but his solo career was calling him back, so in the early 1990s he resumed this. Gurtu is recognised as being one of the most ground breaking percussionists in this world with his open-mindedness towards all music meaning his inspirations came from all over the world. He is best known for jazz, though, playing behind some of the most famous jazz musicians of the time; Charlie Mariano,<\/a> John Tchicai<\/a>, Miles Davis <\/a>and Don Cherry.<\/a><\/p>\n

So… What’s the song?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maya <\/strong>is the first song on Trilok Gurtu\u2019s 2001 Jazz Fusion album The Beat Of Love. <\/strong>The lyrics have not been translated into English but there are small pieces of information that can be gauged about the song. Sang by Indian film singer Roop Kumar, the upbeat groove which is present throughout this song provides a repetitive yet infectious beat which indicates of what is to come on the album.<\/p>\n

Further reading:<\/p>\n

Review on The Beat Of Love<\/a><\/p>\n

Review on The Beat Of Love (2)<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

\u2018Why can he not just be considered a jazz musician as opposed to an Indian Jazz musician?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frances Bannister <\/strong>is a Theatre and Film student at York University.<\/p>\n

Before knowing anything:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I can get on board with this. In fact, this is so cool. It\u2019s so different to anything I listen to, but I kind of like that. I just wish there was a video or a translation of the lyrics so I understood what was being said. Actually, do I? I don\u2019t think I need to know what was being said to enjoy the music. It was definitely inspired by Indian sounds; I could tell that\u2026 Which gave a really interesting twist to classic electronic music. It was repetitive, but because it was a good beat, I didn\u2019t mind the repetition and I really liked it when they said \u2018Maya\u2019, for some reason that just had a really cool sound to it. I also want to know what the main instrument was, because the only instrument I know in Indian music is sitar and unless that had been heavily modified I don\u2019t think it was a sitar.<\/p>\n

After being informed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know him! I absolutely know Trilok Gurtu, we studied him as part of my world music in GCSE Music (I don\u2019t think he was on the syllabus though). You know what, that actually makes me really sad\u2026 Why can he not just be considered a jazz musician as opposed to an Indian Jazz musician? Artisits like Miles Davis and Don Cherry \u2013 who he PLAYED WITH \u2013 are just described as Jazz musicians, why is courtesy not granted to him? I wish this music was popular, particularly around here and I wish he was recognised for his solo music as opposed to his collaborations with Western artists, but I guess that\u2019s just part of not being from England or America. I suppose with it coming out during the early 2000s it just fell into the background as the naughties pop bands took to the stage.
\n
\n\u2018It\u2019s always going to be hard to break into the Western music market if the song isn\u2019t in English\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charlie Tooke <\/strong>is a Theatre in Education student at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama<\/p>\n

Before knowing anything:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I really wish I could like this more than I do. It\u2019s clearly Indian and I don\u2019t know why but for some strange reason that really puts me off the music. I can\u2019t explain to you why. I suppose I just don\u2019t like the sound of world music and that\u2019s all I can really hear when I listen to this. I know that sounds really conceited and ignorant but it\u2019s true. I\u2019m a fan of chart music, I can\u2019t help myself. I don\u2019t know why I\u2019m supposed to care about this music? I think it\u2019s always going to be hard to break into the Western music market if the song isn\u2019t in English\u2026 But maybe that wasn\u2019t the aim of the music. It\u2019s just not my thing, I can\u2019t really think of anything constructive to say because I didn\u2019t understand it and I don\u2019t know what it was trying to achieve.<\/p>\n

After being informed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now I have to say, I\u2019m really confused. He was collaborating with huge Western jazz musicians, why haven\u2019t I heard of him? Although, I wouldn\u2019t describe this as jazz music \u2013 more as world music. Even I have heard of Miles Davis and John McLaughlin (although I don\u2019t know why, I don’t listen to their music), which just tells you if their American, we are more likely to know about them. I also did not even pick up on the drums during the song which is weird considering he\u2019s a percussionist. It doesn\u2019t change my outlook on the song, which I just thought was bad, but it does make me think that maybe I should learn to appreciate artists who aren\u2019t English or American, because they are creating work alongside the non-Western musicians anyway.
\n
\n‘I stick to what I know I like’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gibson Bannister <\/strong>is a Real Estate Agent.<\/p>\n

Before knowing anything:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I like it\u2026 But I don\u2019t know why. I\u2019m usually a fan of heavy metal and hard rock, so this really wasn\u2019t my kind of music, but I actually really enjoyed it. I think it was something to do with the oriental influences which were at play \u2013 I never listen to anything like it. In fact, I never listen to anything outside of the two genres I enjoy, which I guess could make me seem uncultured, but I stick to what I know I like. I wouldn\u2019t even say it\u2019s because it\u2019s from China, I like HAM (who are an Icelandic heavy metal band) and Lordi (an amazing Finnish rock band), it\u2019s just not the genre I would listen to. In this case, because the backing music was so repetitive, I wish that I could understand what was being said\u2026 Which is something I don\u2019t usually find with heavy metal or rock \u2013 because the focus is on the sound as opposed to the words. But with this, I felt the words would have been important and I just wish I understood them.<\/p>\n

After being informed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now you say India, I can completely understand. Was that a sitar being used? As for the word jazz, it absolutely was not the sound I associate with jazz\u2026 Although it might be the sound one associates with Indian jazz. They could be completely different genres, who am I know? I think our lack of knowledge when it comes to anything outside of our English and American realms is astounding. People often say I\u2019m well versed because I listen to a few bands who aren\u2019t from either of the big two, but that\u2019s not well versed\u2026 I had to actively look for those bands, they weren\u2019t just shown to me. I think we could definitely appreciate other music if we were given the chance: you never know until you try.
\n
\n\u2018The singer wanted to sound more Western than they ended up doing\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Helen Brew <\/strong>is a Chemistry Teacher.<\/p>\n

Before knowing anything:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of all of the music you\u2019ve played me over the past few weeks, this is by far my least favourite. I\u2019m not drawn into it. I think it\u2019s the repetitive beat. We\u2019ve learnt that not understanding the lyrics doesn\u2019t bother me, we\u2019ve learnt that not having a video doesn\u2019t bother me, but this just didn\u2019t have any hook to it. There was no overtly political message which seemed to be present in the other songs and if I\u2019m honest, I would have turned it off if I hadn\u2019t been part of this interview. I think the Indian overtones were interesting, yes, but it sounded as though those were accidental, as if the singer wanted to sound more Western than they ended up doing.<\/p>\n

After being informed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not surprised this wasn\u2019t popular\u2026Jazz isn\u2019t particularly popular in the Western world so I can\u2019t see it being popular at all in India, what with Bollywood and Indian Pop music. I don\u2019t even know if I would consider this to be jazz music. In all honesty, I wish I had more to say about it, but there is nothing for me to draw from it\u2026 I just didn\u2019t like it. I wish it was more interesting, I wish there was more information on the song so I could give you a better response, but there isn\u2019t so unfortunately we\u2019re stuck with my first impressions\u2026 which weren\u2019t good.
\n<\/p>\n

Discover new Indian jazz musicians:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 Zakir Hussain<\/a><\/p>\n

Chris Perry<\/a><\/p>\n

Louis Banks<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maya Artist:\u00a0Trilok Gurtu \u00a0Country:\u00a0 India 2001 Album:\u00a0The Beat of Love A reaction by Frances, Charlie, Gibson and Helen.\u00a0 All of these statements are true reactions to\u00a0Maya\u00a0by people who don’t consider themselves to be professional musicians or ethnomusicologists.\u00a0 \u00a0 So… Who is he? Trilok Gurtu is a percussionist and composer who was born in Mumbai, India … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Indian Jazz Music”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7276,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions\/178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}