Trilok Gurtu (born 30 October 1951 in Mumbai) is an Indian percussionist and composer who has spent five decades weaving North Indian classical rhythms - tabla, konnakol - into jazz, world music and beyond. Raised in a musical family (his mother was classical singer Shobha Gurtu), he came to international attention in the mid-1970s through work with Don Cherry, and later with John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek and Joe Zawinul. Downbeat magazine named him best percussionist in three separate critic and reader polls.
Gurtu released 'Mirror' (Jazzline), his 22nd album as leader, recorded with the Arké String Quartet in Mantua, Italy in May 2024.
Jazz Views published a review of 'Mirror' on 29 May 2025, praising Gurtu as 'imaginative, inventive, creative' and the album as a reunion twenty years in the making.
Gurtu performed 'Mirror' material live with the Arké String Quartet at the Brno jazz festival in the Czech Republic.
Gurtu performed in a duo concert with pianist Stefano Bollani at the Estate Teatrale Veronese festival at the Teatro Romano in Verona, Italy.
Gurtu is scheduled to perform with the Jan Garbarek Group in Wroclaw, Poland in May 2026, continuing an ongoing touring partnership with the Norwegian saxophonist.
