Poster of Performance
Coryell and Summers Hold Out a Hand to India
The concert of the acoustic trio, guitarist Larry Coryell, Andy Summers and Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu, at the Archa Theatre in Prague on July 3, belongs to a musical delicacy which will not be forgotten.
Until now, John McLaughlin made an unsurmounted attempt to combine a European guitarist with an Indian percussionist, in the project "Shakti". But this concerns the fact that music of a similar nature has even come to Prague, and that it had happened with the participation of musicians that were just as famous. The grey-haired Larry Coryell, who belongs among the best top ten jazz players in the world, was the counterpart of the greatly valued performer Andy Summers, former member of the famous rock band, The Police.
The concert was created from original compositions combined with jazz evergreens, especially interesting modifications made by the trio in Mingus' famous blues Good Bye Pork My Hat. Indian Trilok Gurtu entered the unobtrusive performances of the guitarists to the special placement of his set of drums - unlike classical playing, he drummed kneeling on one leg. But he had greater success during his solos on two Indian drums - where in place of his hand, he created the sounds of hooves from a running herd of animals.
Maybe for this reason, in Indian music, every finger, and every strike made by each finger on the drum, has an exact musical term which is based according to the syllable that it reminds one of. And only after years of hard practice, Indians, such as our guest Trilok Gurtu, are able to create such beautiful colours. The highlight of the evening were those moments when the Indian musician demonstrated that he was able to imitate what he played on the drum with his own voice, after he put on his portable microphone. No, it wasn't merely scat, as we call the vocal improvisations in jazz. It was truly a hurricane and both guitarists were so busy trying not be out of rhythm with what the Indian had just sung.
Aleš Faix, Práce, 9. 7. 1996