About Touching Minds
Touching Minds is a collaborative studio album by guitarist and composer Ratko Zjača, saxophonist Marius Preda, bassist Nick McGuire and percussionist Trilok Gurtu. The album released on September 26, 2025, under an unspecified label in digital media format. The project marks a fusion of contemporary jazz with elements of Indian classical and world music, reflecting the cross-cultural backgrounds of the contributing artists.
The album features eight original compositions. The opening track Touching Minds establishes the record’s blend of improvisational jazz structures and rhythmic patterns drawn from Indian classical traditions. The Life Ahead and Dharma expand on melodic interplay between Zjača’s guitar and Preda’s saxophone, while First Prayer incorporates percussive textures led by Gurtu’s tabla and frame drum work. The Story of Us and Here Nothing Begins emphasize collective improvisation, with McGuire’s basslines anchoring the harmonic foundation. The album closes with Liberation and Horizons (For Carlo), the latter dedicated to an unspecified figure named Carlo, showcasing extended instrumental passages.
Trilok Gurtu’s involvement introduces Indian rhythmic cycles and konnakol vocalizations into the jazz framework, a signature of his work since the 1980s. Ratko Zjača and Marius Preda contribute compositions that balance Western harmonic progressions with modal scales. Nick McGuire’s acoustic bass provides a bridge between the improvisational and structured sections. The recording process and production team remain undocumented in available sources.
The release date coincided with a live performance event on September 26, 2025, though the location and format of the event are not specified. Critical reception and commercial performance data for Touching Minds are not yet available as of the album’s announcement.