Remember Shakti
Four People as One
by Anil Prasad

Formed in 1975, Shakti pioneered a groundbreaking and highly influential east-meets-west collaborative approach. The group, whose name means creative intelligence, beauty and power, consisted of legendary British jazz guitarist John McLaughlin, North Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain, and violinist L. Shankar and ghatam [percussion] player T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram, both of whom hail from South India. Together, they created a fluid and organic sound that managed to successfully combine seemingly incompatible traditions. Hussain and McLaughlin, along with rotating co-conspirators, recently launched a successful reunion tour and self-titled album under the name Remember Shakti. But upon the original group's debut, Westerners weren't quite ready to dance to the worldbeat of these very different drummers.

"What happens is sometimes you have a vision and an urge to go forward and do something unique at a time when people are still tied to what is, as opposed to what should be or what can be," explained Hussain of the resistance to Shakti's early days. "One must also realize that John had just disconnected himself from the Mahavishnu Orchestra, a very, very commercially popular [jazz-rock] group. In many ways, John made the big sacrifice because he lost a lot of fans who were into his electrical experience and they faded away."

McLaughlin believes the almost complete lack of mainstream knowledge, appreciation for, and availability of world music at the time of Shakti's introduction also hampered its initial acceptance. "When I formed Shakti, it was dimly viewed, I should say!" said McLaughlin, a key member of several Miles Davis line-ups and one of the most renowned guitarists in history. "After coming out of Mahavishnu — a very powerful electric band — here I was sitting on a carpet with Indian musicians. Everyone thought I flipped out. It was not well-received at all by the record company or my agent and manager. Artistically, I thought it was wonderful, but they all thought I was a little loopy."

"The record companies and promotional companies had no idea what to call Shakti, which category of music it fit into, or which bin in the record shop to put it in," added Hussain. "So they looked at it with a great amount of hesitancy. But I guess they've been proven wrong because Shakti has endured."

This is an excerpt from Dirty Linen #84 (October/November '99). To read it all, buy it on the newsstand or subscribe!

This is an excerpt from Dirty Linen #84 (October/November '99). To read it all, buy it on the newsstand or subscribe!