The Indian audience is a clap-happy lot: Trilok Gurtu

His grandfather Pandit Narayan Nath Gurtu was a noted Sitar player and a musicologist his mother Shobha Gurtu was a renowned Hindustani classical singer and both his elder brothers were percussionists Music was an intrinsic part of Trilok Gurtus childhoodTrilok Gurtu enthralls the audience with his musicHe started his formal training in tabla at the age of five under the tutelage of Pandit Manirao Popatkar An experimentalist at heart he soon began dabbling in other percussion instruments especially the drumsI learnt to play the drums on my own mostly by observing other performers play I would take up any gig that came my way and try my hands at every kind of instrumentmdashclassical rock jazz Bollywood I did it all During my growing up years radio was really big I would hear musicians on BBC and Voice of America and try to emulate themIt was not easy but I loved the challenge Also I think I was too young and restless then to stick to one thing says the man of whom tabla maestro Zakir Hussain had once said that if Trilok Gurtu had stuck to playing just the tabla he would have been regarded as the best in the worldTranscending boundariesHe had a brief stint in Bollywood too My brother knew a lot of musicians in the industry and by the early 60s I was already touring with Mahendra Kapoor Later I also toured with RD Burman and Asha Bhosle says the artiste whose chance encounter with Don Cherry in 1973 changed the course of his life The ace jazz trumpeter inspired him to follow his dream and find his own soundToday the musician who has made a niche for himself in world music is reluctant to confine himself to any particular genre For me music is one It has no boundaries People from Poland Russia Africa the Balkans can all relate to my music I dont let genres define my music It is an amalgamation of everything mdash classical jazz rock and AfroI dont imitate anybody says the musician who has created his own unique percussion kit which is an amalgamation of the best of both the East and the WestAlong with bass toms snare and cymbals the kit includes tabla drums congas djembe as well as Indian bells indigenous folk instruments and instruments that I have built using scraps says Gurtu whose latest album Spellbound is a tribute to legendary trumpeters Don Cherry Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie It has an impressive lineup of international artistes including Norways Nils Petter Molvaer Lebaneseborn Ibrahim Maalouf Italys Paolo Fresu Turkeys Hasan Goumlzetlik among othersUnimpressed with IndiaHis international collaborations have earned him the nickname serial collaborator but he seldom performs in India I play according to my audiences When it comes to fusion or experimental music I find the audiences here are very different from the international ones There is this segment that I call the claphappy lot mdash they will start clapping and cheering whenever you play a fast beatIt is a different kind of a challenge to play for them says the musician who confesses that he also finds it difficult to find good musicians in India to collaborate with He is frank to point out that it is far more difficult to release a music album in India Most recording companies insist the artiste pays from his pocket Even for live concerts people look for free invitation passes Nobody is willing to shell out the money rues GurtuAsk him about his take on other Indian artistes making it big globally today and he doesnt sound too ecstatic Most of our musicians who claim to be international actually cater to the India diaspora settled abroad Unlike a Zakir Hussain you will hardly find Indian musicians playing for a global audience It is like being a secondclass citizen I never wanted that for myselfGurtu had once claimed that the music closest to his heart is the sound of his city MumbaiThe citys soundscape has gone through a major transfromation Earlier you had hawkers selling their wares birds chirping chaiwallahs calling out Now it is all about cars and traffic People honk even when they see a crow I cant relate to this Mumbai It has lost its individuality and become very Americanised However it is still home says the percussionistTrilok Gurtu will perform at The Lost Party at Lavasa this Saturday Tickets on wwwbookmyshowcom