William Otis Laswell is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, world music, jazz, dub, and ambient styles.
Ustad Zakir Hussain is an Indian tabla player, composer, percussionist, music producer and film actor. He is the eldest son of tabla player Alla Rakha. He is widely considered as one of the greatest tabla players of all time.
Jonas Hellborg is a Swedish bass guitarist. He has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Ustad Sultan Khan, Fazal Qureshi, Bill Laswell, Shawn Lane, Jens Johansson, Anders Johansson, Ginger Baker, Michael Shrieve, V. Selvaganesh, Jeff Sipe, Mattias IA Eklundh, Public Image Ltd, and Buckethead.
John McLaughlin, also known as Mahavishnu, is an English guitarist, bandleader, and composer. A pioneer of jazz fusion, his music combines elements of jazz with rock, world music, Western classical music, flamenco, and blues. After contributing to several key British groups of the early 1960s, McLaughlin made Extrapolation, his first album as a bandleader, in 1969. He then moved to the U.S., where he played with drummer Tony Williams's group Lifetime and then with Miles Davis on his electric jazz fusion albums In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, and On the Corner. His 1970s electric band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, performed a technically virtuosic and complex style of music that fused electric jazz and rock with Indian influences.
Material was an American band formed in 1979 and operating until 1999, led by producer and bassist Bill Laswell.
Vocal percussion is the art of creating sounds with one's mouth that approximate, imitate, or otherwise serve the same purpose as a percussion instrument, whether in a group of singers, an instrumental ensemble, or solo.
Miles_Gurtu is the fourth studio album by Robert Miles, the second he independently recorded and produced. The record was released on 10 February 2004. Robert Miles and Indian jazz percussionist Trilok Gurtu met while recording Miles's last solo album, Organik, where Gurtu played percussion on three of the tracks. The result of the current collaboration is a mix of both musicians' very disparate styles. Miles_Gurtu expanded Robert Miles's "new style" started in Organik (2001), this time in a much more jazzy way.
Tabla Beat Science was a musical group founded in 1999 by Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell. Its style consists of a mixture of Hindustani music, Asian Underground, ambient music, drum and bass and electronica.
Kai Eckhardt is a German born musician and composer who plays bass, best known for his work with John McLaughlin, Vital Information, Torsten de Winkel, Billy Cobham and Garaj Mahal—a band he co-founded. Educated at the prestigious Berklee College of Music Eckhardt has also collaborated on projects with guitarist Larry Coryell as well as keyboardist Tom Coster. Eckhardt is known for his fast chordal slap-style abilities, and for his unique combination of funk, jazz, and world music.
Mark Nauseef is an American drummer and percussionist who has enjoyed a varied career, ranging from rock music during the 1970s with his time as a member of the Ian Gillan Band and, temporarily with Thin Lizzy when Brian Downey left for a short time, to a wide range of musical styles in more recent times, playing with many notable musicians from all over the world.
Hallucination Engine is a 1994 album by the New York based music group Material. The album mixes jazz, dub, funk and Indian music.
Qué Alegría is an album by the John McLaughlin Trio, featuring percussionist Trilok Gurtu and bass guitarist Dominique Di Piazza. Di Piazza is replaced by Kai Eckhardt on two tracks. It was released on the Verve label in 1992. The album reached 1992 number 5 in the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
Song for Everyone is an album by Indian violinist L. Shankar recorded in September 1984 and released on ECM the following year. The quartet features saxophonist Jan Garbarek and percussionists Zakir Hussain and Trilok Gurtu.
Live at the Royal Festival Hall is an album by the John McLaughlin Trio, featuring percussionist Trilok Gurtu and bass guitarist Kai Eckhardt. It was recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 27 November 1989 and was released on the JMT label in 1990. The album reached number 3 in the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
Three Day Moon is an album by American jazz bassist Barre Phillips recorded in March 1978 and released on ECM later that year. The quartet features guitarist Terje Rypdal, Dieter Feichtner on synthesizer and percussionist Trilok Gurtu.
"Mantra" is a 1993 song and single by Material from the album Hallucination Engine, composed by Bill Laswell and Lakshminarayana Shankar. "Mantra" received favourable reviews in Spin, The Wire and Stereophile. The album version was remixed by The Orb to a 17-minute track for the single, and also given a 5-minute version.
George Brooks is an American saxophonist known for combining jazz and Indian classical music. He is the founder of the jazz fusion groups Summit, Aspada, Bombay Jazz, the Raga Bop Trio, and Elements.
African Fantasy is an album by the Indian musician Trilok Gurtu, released in 2000. The album was an attempt to meld Indian musical backing to African styles of vocalizing. Gurtu was also inspired, in part, to create a "danceable" album. Gurtu supported the album with a North American tour.
Save Our Children is an album by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It was recorded in West Orange, New Jersey, and was released in 1998 by Verve Records. On the album, which was produced by Bill Laswell, Sanders is joined by keyboardists Jeff Bova, William Henderson, and Bernie Worrell, harmonium player Tony Cedras, bassist Alex Blake, and percussionists Trilok Gurtu and Zakir Hussain. Abiodun Oyewole, Asante, and Abdou Mboup also provide vocals on one track. Save Our Children was Sanders' second release with Verve, and the second to be produced by Laswell.
With a Heartbeat is an album by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and cornetist Graham Haynes. It was recorded in West Orange, New Jersey, in 2003, and was released later that year by Evolver, a sub-label of Instinct Records. On the album, which is based on heartbeat sounds recorded by Dr. Jean-Louis Zink, Sanders and Haynes are joined by guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, keyboardist Jeff Bova, and tabla player Trilok Gurtu. The album was produced by Bill Laswell, who also plays bass, keyboards, and flute, and is Sanders' third recording to be produced by Laswell.
