event details

Trilok Gurtu & the Arke String Quartet with India Alba

Sunday 3rd February 2008, 8.00pm

Old Fruitmarket :

Please Note: This is a past event event.

Having worked with artists as diverse as Jan Garbarek, Neneh Cherry, Salif Keita, Nitin Sawhney, Sting, Annie Lennox and Huun Huur Tu, master Indian percussionist and composer Trilok Gurtu is a true fusion virtuoso, bringing the folk and classical traditions inherited from his musical family into new and unexpected spheres of influence, with consistently dazzling results.

His latest collaboration, as captured on 2007’s superb Arkeology album, unites Asian, Balkan, Celtic and Mediterranean influences in cahoots with Italy’s Arkè String Quartet, an alternative-classical outfit featuring double bass instead of cello, plus unconventional extras like recorder, thumb-piano, Indian dilruba and ukulele.

India Alba bring together leading players of North Indian classical music, Sharat Srivastava (violin) and Gyan Singh (tablas) with two Scottish Traditional musicians, Ross Ainslie (bagpipes and whistle) and Nigel Richard (cittern) in a unique fusion of their musical cultures.

With a rich area of common ground, since both Indian ragas and Scottish pipe music are based round a drone, they produce “genuinely new and exciting music” (The Herald)