Fourth Moon

Fourth Moon is a composition by Indian percussionist and composer Trilok Gurtu, featured as the sixth track on his 1995 studio album Believe. The piece spans 6 minutes and 9 seconds, blending elements of jazz fusion with traditional Indian rhythmic structures. Gurtu employed a mix of acoustic and electronic percussion, layered with ambient textures and melodic improvisations characteristic of his cross-genre approach.

The album Believe marked Gurtu’s continued exploration of global fusion, released under the CMP Records label. While specific session details for Fourth Moon remain partially undocumented, the track exemplifies Gurtu’s collaboration with international musicians, though individual contributors to this recording are not explicitly credited in available sources. The composition’s title suggests thematic ties to lunar cycles, a motif Gurtu occasionally referenced in his work during the mid-1990s.

Critically, Believe extended Gurtu’s reputation for merging Indian classical percussion—such as the tabla and mridangam—with Western drum kits and synthesizers. Fourth Moon reflects this synthesis through its dynamic shifts between meditative passages and rhythmic intensity. The album’s production incorporated studio techniques of the era, including multi-tracking and effects processing, to enhance the track’s atmospheric depth.

No commercial singles or alternate versions of Fourth Moon were released. The original recording remains available on the full-length album, which saw distribution in both CD and vinyl formats. Later reissues of Believe retained the track in its unedited form, preserving Gurtu’s artistic intent from the 1995 release.