Philip Catherine - End Of August

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1982
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:02
Size: 88,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:12)  1. Petit Nicolas
(5:09)  2. Grand Nicolas
(9:26)  3. Janet
(6:17)  4. September Start
(4:57)  5. Goodbye
(2:53)  6. Birth Of August
(3:14)  7. End Of August
(0:50)  8. Presque

An immensely gifted Belgian guitarist, Philip Catherine is a highly regarded performer known for his harmonically nuanced, deeply lyrical playing and crisply rounded fretboard touch. Born in London in 1942 to an English mother and Belgian father, Catherine moved to Brussels with his family at a young age. As a teenager, he became interested in the guitar, influenced at the time by French singer/songwriter and poet George Brassens. By age 14 he was taking lessons, and learning the basic elements of jazz improvisation when he discovered Django Reinhardt. He quickly absorbed the jazz legend's distinctive style, and eventually picked up other influences, including Belgian guitarist René Thomas. He also immersed himself in albums by such luminaries as Art Blakey, Clifford Brown, Max Roach, and others. Catherine began playing gigs while in his teens, working in a trio with American Hammond B-3 specialist Lou Bennett and drummer Oliver Jackson. There were also stints with Belgian saxophonist Jack Sels and Philadelphia-born/Brussels-based drummer Edgar Bateman. In 1970, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty asked him to join his band and, inspired by contemporaries like John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell, Catherine stayed with Ponty for a year, dedicating himself to the progressive fusion sound. Also during this period, he attended formal music classes at Berklee College of Music in Boston. 

After returning to Belgium, Catherine found himself in high demand and developed a bevy of connections, including playing with Klaus Weiss, Les McCann, Karin Krog, Dexter Gordon, and others. As a solo artist, he made his debut with 1971's Stream, a funky, inventive mix of acoustic and electric jazz. He followed up in 1975 with Guitars and September Man, both also highly inventive, fusion-influenced albums. Sessions with Herb Geller, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, and Charles Mingus followed, as did a duo tour with guitarist Coryell. Also during the '70s, he paired with close associate saxophonist Charlie Mariano for a handful of sessions, and rounded out the decade with his own Nairam, which also featured Mariano, along with trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg and others. During the '80s, Catherine's profile continued to rise as he released several more well-regarded efforts, including Babel, End of August, and Trio with guitarist Christian Escoude and violinist Didier Lockwood. There also were dates with Aldo Romano, Stéphane Grappelli, and Kenny Drew. Also in the '80s, he gained attention for his work with legendary West Coast trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker, touring and appearing on such albums as 1983's Mr. B and 1985's Strollin'. Although his 1986 album, Transparence, layered keyboards into his atmospheric sound, his work with Baker pointed toward a more acoustic-leaning aesthetic. It was a sound he further embraced on 1990's I Remember You. 

Dedicated to Baker (who died in 1989), the album also featured trumpeter/flügelhornist Tom Harrell. Throughout the '90s, Catherine released a steady stream of albums for smaller jazz labels like Enja, Criss Cross, and Dreyfus, including albums like Moods, Vol. 1, Spanish Nights, and 1999's Guitar Groove. In 2001, he returned with Blue Prince, which found him balancing his love of acoustic jazz and electric fusion. Joining him were trumpeter Bert Joris, bassist Hein van de Geyn, and drummer Hans Van Oosterhout. Joris was also on board for 2002's Summer Night. The orchestral album Meeting Colours followed three years later. The more intimate Guitars Two appeared in 2008. He then joined bassist van de Geyn, pianist Enrico Pieranunzi, and drummer Joe La Barbera for the 2010 live album Concert in Capbreton. A year later, he delivered the trio date Plays Cole Porter, followed by 2013's warmly sophisticated Côté Jardin. The duo album New Folks with bassist Martin Wind followed a year later. He then joined the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie for 2015's The String Project: Live in Brussels. ~ Matt Collar https://www.allmusic.com/artist/philip-catherine-mn0000287463/biography

Featuring: Philip Catherine (guitar), Trilok Gurtu (percussions), Charlie Mariano (saxophone), Toots Thielemans (harmonica), Nicolas Fiszman (bass) & electric

End Of August

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Trilok Gurtu - Broken Rhythms

Styles: Folk, World, Fusion
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:28
Size: 120,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:44)  1. Broken Rhythms
(5:03)  2. Kabir
(5:40)  3. Nine Horses
(4:09)  4. Beyond
(5:44)  5. Sohum
(6:14)  6. Vignola
(5:28)  7. Dubash Lane
(7:23)  8. The Way To Banganga

The musical traditions of the eastern and western worlds are bridged through the improvisations of Bombay, India-born percussionist/vocalist Trilok Gurtu. Gurtu's mastery of post-bop jazz has not gone unnoticed. Downbeat magazine named him "best percussionist" in three critic and popularity polls and proclaimed, "musically, the world is his stage". Jazz magazine, Straight No Chaser took a similar view, writing, "this music has a transcendental quality and removes any obstacles that lie between western and eastern improvised music." Gurtu's eclectic approach has enabled him to collaborate with some of the world's greatest musicians. A member of trumpeter Don Cherry's band from 1976 to 1978, Gurtu has worked with such influential musicians as jazz guitarists Philip Catherine, John McLaughlin, Ralph Towner, Pat Metheny and Larry Coryell, rock guitarist David Gilmore, saxophonists Jan Garbarek and Bill Evans, percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, jazz keyboardist Josef Zawinul and classical pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque. Gurtu was a member of acoustic jazz fusion group, Oregon, from 1984 to 1988. A native of Bombay, India, Gurtu hails from a musical family. His grandfather was a well known sitar player and his mother, Shobha Gurtu, was an influential singer of Indian classical music. Studying to play the tablas from the age of six, Gurtu attracted international attention in the mid-1970s when he performed with Charlie Mariano and John Tchicai. In 1977, he accompanied vocalist Asha Bhosle during her New York concerts. After touring and recording with Don Cherry for two years, Gurtu emigrated to Hambug, Germany in 1978. Shortly afterwards, he toured with Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine and recorded an album, End Of August, with Catherine and Mariano. In the summer of 1993, Gurtu toured Europe in a duo with Josef Zawinul and recorded an album, Crazy Saints, with Zawinul and Pat Metheny. Gurtu continues to teach drum clinics and perform at classical events with modern dancer Carolyn Carlson. In the summer of 1998, he toured with Andy Summers and Larry Coryell. The year 2000 saw the release of African Fantasy. Beat of Love followed the next spring. ~ Craig Harris https://itunes.apple.com/fr/album/broken-rhythms/212797408?l=en

Broken Rhythms

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Trilok Gurtu - Remembrance

Styles: Folk, World, & Country 
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:06
Size: 130,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:17)  1. Brindavan dance
(5:43)  2. Expression of love
(6:12)  3. Witness to marriage
(4:45)  4. Our heritage
(5:36)  5. Evening in India
(3:09)  6. Sounds of India
(6:56)  7. Greetings
(3:13)  8. Street song
(3:27)  9. Eastern journey
(3:57) 10. Worship
(4:47) 11. Remembrance

Producer/percussionist Trilok Gurtu has spent the fifteen-odd years since the release of his first solo album Usfret exploring the potential of collaborations between musicians from the Indian, jazz and African traditions. Over the years he's moved from an energetic avant-garde approach to make gentler, more accessible music. Remembrance features musicians of the quality of the sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan, the flute of Ronu Majumdar, the tabla player Zakir Hussain and the vocalist Shankar Mahadevan. Trilok's mother Shoba Gurtu makes her first recording with her son since Usfret. With this cast list, it's no surprise that the most successful pieces on Remembrance are those most grounded in the classical Indian tradition. The album's opening track 'Brindavan Dance' is a potentially off-putting percussion and programming workout, dated and somewhat unattractive. But on 'Expression Of Love' we hear Shankar Mahadevan and Shoba Gurtu combine over gentle santoor, Sultan Khan's shocking sarangi and Trilok's syncopated trap drums to powerful and atmospheric effect. Although nothing at all like a traditional raga, except perhaps in the passages of impossibly fast extended harmony, it's simultaneously forward-looking and rooted in tradition, combining an unusual arrangement, sophisticated production and extraordinary musicianship. 'Witness to Marriage' follows, with an affecting Bollywood string arrangement and African vocal sample building into something of an epic of insistent funk and north Indian percussion. The light, but enchanting 'Our Heritage' showcases Majumdar's flute. Trilok syncopates trap drums beneath the flute and a rolling synthesiser sequence, giving the tune his rhythmic trademark. It's quickly obvious that the arrangements and the studiocraft here are grounded in pop territory, for all the album's glorious musicianship. 'Greetings', where Zakir Hussain does his 10,000-fingered tabla thing over synth bass and distracting sequenced synthesiser, exemplifies this. Where Remembrance really comes to life, as it does on 'Evening In India', simply harmonium, vocal and percussion, it's really quite splendid. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/njdp/

Remembrance

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