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TRILOK GURTU AND TIGRAN HAMASYAN - REVIEW
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
John Lewis
guardian.co.uk
Monday 26 September 2011 17.45 BST
It's not often Trilok Gurtu finds himself upstaged. For more than
three decades, the Mumbai-born percussionist has been one of the
most charismatic figures in jazz, always surrounded by a kit that
looks like the contents of Aladdin's cave. If drum solos are often
an excuse for the audience to visit the bar, with Gurtu they are
the centrepiece to the show - a sonic voyage using tablas, gongs,
box drums, rattles, cowbells, shells and even a bucket of water. But
tonight, from the moment he was joined on stage by the 24-year-old
Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan, eyes were fixed elsewhere.
Dressed in black and looking like a young Bob Dylan, Tigran placed his
stool away from the piano and bent double while playing, his forehead
almost touching the keys. He mumbled into a microphone while soloing;
occasionally beat-boxing over the funkier tracks, sometimes singing
wordless, hymn-like compositions.
This performance - featuring two short solo performances and a lengthy
duet - served as Hamasyan's London debut and showcased A Fable, his
first album on the Verve label. However, where that LP comprises quiet,
Satie-esque miniatures, here Gurtu pushed Tigran into wilder territory.
His piano style is strongly rooted in traditional Armenian music.
Tonight's show opened with a fellow Armenian playing folk songs on
the oboe-like duduk, and you can see the link between those haunting
melodies and the melismatic phrases Tigran plays with his right hand.
But, egged on by Gurtu's rabble-rousing percussion, he also dipped
into Keith Jarrett-style gospel, country and funk.
The duet was a little rough around the edges, but it was a chaotic,
exhausting, unrepeatable show that pushed two very different talents
to their limits.
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
John Lewis
guardian.co.uk
Monday 26 September 2011 17.45 BST
It's not often Trilok Gurtu finds himself upstaged. For more than
three decades, the Mumbai-born percussionist has been one of the
most charismatic figures in jazz, always surrounded by a kit that
looks like the contents of Aladdin's cave. If drum solos are often
an excuse for the audience to visit the bar, with Gurtu they are
the centrepiece to the show - a sonic voyage using tablas, gongs,
box drums, rattles, cowbells, shells and even a bucket of water. But
tonight, from the moment he was joined on stage by the 24-year-old
Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan, eyes were fixed elsewhere.
Dressed in black and looking like a young Bob Dylan, Tigran placed his
stool away from the piano and bent double while playing, his forehead
almost touching the keys. He mumbled into a microphone while soloing;
occasionally beat-boxing over the funkier tracks, sometimes singing
wordless, hymn-like compositions.
This performance - featuring two short solo performances and a lengthy
duet - served as Hamasyan's London debut and showcased A Fable, his
first album on the Verve label. However, where that LP comprises quiet,
Satie-esque miniatures, here Gurtu pushed Tigran into wilder territory.
His piano style is strongly rooted in traditional Armenian music.
Tonight's show opened with a fellow Armenian playing folk songs on
the oboe-like duduk, and you can see the link between those haunting
melodies and the melismatic phrases Tigran plays with his right hand.
But, egged on by Gurtu's rabble-rousing percussion, he also dipped
into Keith Jarrett-style gospel, country and funk.
The duet was a little rough around the edges, but it was a chaotic,
exhausting, unrepeatable show that pushed two very different talents
to their limits.