Pete Lockett and Amit Chatterjee - Taalisman

It’s hard to not to grow fond of fusion music. You get the best of both worlds without having to go through the popular dross of either side.

The most common type of fusion would be one where musicians belonging to a specific region and excelling at their respective sphere, collaborate with their counterparts in other regions. But, the other more exciting form of fusion would be one with musicians surpassing the boundaries constructed by tradition and with each striving to play the music of the other in succession.

Pete Lockett and Amit Chatterjee, though not household names in any part of the world have both earned themselves extremely respected names in the world of music/fusion music. Bengali guitarist Amit has played for the legendary keyboardist/composer Joe Zawinul and percussionist Trilok Gurtu, besides playing along side Carlos Santana, Eric Johnson and Badal Roy. British percussionist Pete Lockett can be best described as a sponge that sucks in everything around him. Pete has been collaborating with the best musicians from around the world from lands as far as Japan to closer home in Europe.

The two artists joined hands in preparing the dream like journey that is “Taalisman”. The album as a direct bi-product of the contributions of its artists, takes the form of the artists themselves. What connects both the artists on the album would be the analogous way in which their music shifts gears, landscapes, tones and magnitudes without creating a ruffle.

Pete Lockett’s showcases his comprehensive abilities in the percussion arena in a mature rather than a savage and raw manner. Lockett complements a roaring African beat with a tinkling Tabla backing rhythm on the track “7G 444”, presenting the listener with a uniting world rather than a colliding one. On the aptly titled “Chase” Lockett brings out the excitement of a real chase, leaving the listeners on the edge of their seats.

In Amit Chatterjee’s case it is very tempting to draw comparisons with the great John McLaughlin. But, Amit has a much more tender approach to playing than his British counterpart, using less notes than John and relying more on his control of spaces rather than the volley of notes. The resulting sound that he produces is both western and oriental at the same time, perhaps the most accurate definition of fusion guitar. For instance on “Maze” his slick licks could be described as bluesy yet very Indian at its base. Interestingly enough, the orientalist aspect of his playing too is not restricted to an Indian sound, rather also borrowing form a sound often come across in the far east nations such as China or Indonesia.

In “Taalisman” the percussion and the dream like guitar get lost in each other, and very soon it is no longer just a guitarist and a percussion sharing space but rather two musical minds becoming one. “Taalisman” as a serious listen is both soothing and exciting. It is essentially a merging of different sounds, echoing from various corners of the world, a good break from the monotonous sounds from the average life.