Robert Miles & Trilok Gurtu - Biography

MILES_GURTU

Two masters of music combine to produce the richest blend of electronica, nu-jazz and world music. A 21st Century amalgam "without a hint of a cliche' in sight" The Guardian

Trilok Gurtu and Robert Miles are two of modern music's true pioneers, both confounding convention, erasing boundaries and defying easy categorization.

The 'black sheep' of a famous family of Indian classical musicians Trilok embodies the world of virtuosic Indo-jazz fusion and is godfather to the UK's dynamic Asian music scene, lauded and remixed by artists such as Talvin Singh, Asian Dub Foundation and Fun'Da'Mental. Nominated for a BBC Radio 3 World Music Award for his Indo-African explorations 'African Fantasy' and 'The Beat Of Love' his peerless musicianship has carried off Jazz-bible Downbeat's "Best Percussionist Award' five times in the last eight years. His hybrid East-West electro-acoustic drum and percussion set up brings his roadies headaches and the rest of us stunned enjoyment.

Robert's ground-breaking single "Children" invented 'Dream-House", topping the charts in 18 countries and opening the door for European chill-out as it is known today. His restless pan-global collaborations with Bill Laswell and Nitin Sawnhey, his legal fights for basic artistic freedoms and his burgeoning career in edgy electro-noir Hollywood soundtracks. As might be expected of a man who's sold more than 14 million records he's lifted a few awards himself along the way...including a Brit award and a World Music Award for Best-International Newcomer, but what really drives him is his unquenchable love of music and an equally ferocious desire for artistic expression and integrity.

Any collaboration between these two would naturally be newsworthy but what has emerged is little short of revolutionary. Once again setting the standard for others to follow, Miles and Gurtu render the potential of man-machine interplay on a deeply intuitive and profoundly musical new level.

While there are some precedents for Miles_Gurtu 's combination of live playing and transformative technology; the avant-garde cyberjazz of DJ Spooky, the visceral experiments of Warp Records' Squarepusher or the real time virtuosity of live King Crimson for example, none of these projects has quite the depth, breadth, attention to detail and sheer vibe that is so abundant in Miles_Gurtu.

While extensive use is made of the latest technology, the heart and soul of the project is the classic jazz-trio; Keys, Double Bass and Drums, each musician, playing, interacting and improvising live so that the feel of the music is retained throughout the entire recording and production process. By rooting everything in live playing the electronics remains audibly at the service of the music and musicians rather than vice versa as is all too common. Paradoxically this strong musical core means that the studio wizardry functions as fourth member of the band, interacting with and transforming the music as it radiates out and is reflected back in. The result is a kind of hyper-real jazz trio, a phantasmagoria of its aural possibilities.

Adding further, cinematic dimension to things is the liberal use of string orchestra, as resonant of Bollywood as John Barry; a geography that also locates guitarist, composer and long-time collaborator of both musicians Nitin Sawnhey.

With the project rooted so deeply in live playing it shouldn't come as a surprise that the musicians will be taking to the stage and the road in the very near future. Robert and Trilok are preparing the live band for some selected US dates in the fall in advance of a comprehensive European tour next spring to accompany the album's release. If all goes to plan major European and US festival dates will follow next summer.

The synergy of great musicians is always life-affirming, and nevermore so when, as here, they travel together to a place none of them could have previously foreseen. On Miles_Gurtu these players truly enter each other's world.

"We make bridges, not barriers" says Trilok.

Prepare to be amazed.