For his new CD, the veteran South Indian percussion maestro celebrates a triumvirate of jazz trumpet giants with the help of a handful of the major contemporary torchbearers of the instrument, and does it with his usual entertaining, rhythmical vigour. Tracks are dedicated to either Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Don Cherry (plus a nod to the classical world of trumpets), the latter being an important figure in the early part of Gurtu's career. The guest list is impressive and not far from a who's who of contemporary jazz trumpet, even though as can often happen with this kind of ‘project’ setup, the results are a mixed bag. On Miles' ‘Jack Johnson/Black Satin’ he is joined by Nils Petter Molvaer and his dusky brass sound in amongst whispering Indian percussion and jagged keys hits the vibe perfectly. But a Gurtu original as well featuring Molvaer, and also dedicated to Miles, sounds too much like a watered-down version of the Zawinul Syndicate; Still on Miles' ‘All Blues’ begins with New York Blue Note recording artist Ambrose Akinmusire's playing a lazy theme before breaking into one of his more typically pointed, oblique solos. Diz's ‘Manteca’ is given an engaging eastern twist with Turkish brass player Hasan Gözetlik taking the lead; new Lebanese trumpet hopeful Ibrahim Maalouf and Paulo Fresu mute up for a pair of Gurtu originals dedicated to Cherry, the Sardinian star's contribution featuring some of the leader's tala vocal. Spellbound is framed by brief tracks that are nothing more than gestures that demonstrate the special place Gurtu reserves in his heart for Don Cherry: a brief 30 second duo of Gurtu and Cherry from their early collaborations and rounded off with a brief ‘thank you’ from the pioneering ‘world griot’ himself. A slightly disjointed affair, but an enjoyable one all the same.