Remember Shakti is a quintet which combines elements of traditional

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk ( Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ov ...

with elements of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

. The band consists of English guitarist John McLaughlin, and Zakir Hussain (

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

), U. Srinivas (deceased) (

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. Personal life and early career Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a T ...

(

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

), and

V. Selvaganesh V. Selvaganesh is an Indian percussionist working in the Carnatic tradition and one of the leading kanjira (south Indian frame drum) players of his generation. He is also known as "Chella S. Ganesh." Career Selvaganesh gained world fame through ...

(

kanjira The kanjira, khanjira, khanjiri or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. As a folk and bhajan instrument, it has been used in India for many centuries. The kanjira's emergence in South Indian Carnatic ...

ghatam The ghaṭam ( sa, घटं ''ghaṭaṁ'', kan, ಘಟ ''ghaṭah'', ta, கடம் ''ghatam'', te, ఘటం ''ghatam'', ml, ഘടം, ''ghatam'') is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across India. It's a variant ...

mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is th ...

), who are of Indian descent. The band's name is derived from John Mclaughlin's acoustic

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

n fusion band

Shakti In Hinduism, especially Shaktism (a theological tradition of Hinduism), Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability") is the primordial cosmic energy, female in aspect, and rep ...

which was active in the 1970s. McLaughlin and Hussain were also members of that band, along with violinist L. Shankar and percussionists T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram and R. Raghavan. The word

translates in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

to "power" or "goddess of power".

Biography

After disbanding in the late 1970s,

enjoyed a twenty-year hiatus before McLaughlin and Hussain decided to reform the band. In addition to John and Zakir, T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram (

), returned for Remember Shakti's eponymous debut UK tour and album in 1997. However, McLaughlin could not locate Shakti's original fourth member, L. Shankar, so replaced him with

bansuri A bansuri is an ancient side blown flute originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an aerophone produced from bamboo and metal like material used in Hindustani classical music. It is referred to as ''nadi'' and ''tunava'' in the '' ...

player

Hariprasad Chaurasia Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition. Early life Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the ...

for the live recording of this album. Remember Shakti Shrinivas McLaughlin Selvaganesh

For the band's next album, ''The Believer'', recorded live and released in 1999, Chaurasia and Vinayakram were replaced by the late

player U. Srinivas and Vinayakram's son

. The band's most recent live album, 2001's ''Saturday Night in Bombay'', presents Remember Shakti augmented by an army of guests, notably Pt. Shivkumar Sharma (

santoor The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is ...

), percussionist

Taufiq Qureshi Ustad Taufiq Qureshi (born 1962) is an Indian classical musician. He is a percussionist and a composer. Early life Born in Mumbai, to the legendary tabla player, Ustad Alla Rakha. His eldest brother is a tabla player, Ustad Zakir Hussain. He r ...

who is the brother of Zakir, and

, who has now become Remember Shakti's full-time vocalist. The band has toured extensively all around the world.

Concert tours

* January 2005: At the

Gateway of India The Gateway of India is an arch-monument built in the early 20th century in the city of Mumbai (Bombay), India. It was erected to commemorate the landing of King-Emperor George V, the first British monarch to visit India, in December 1911 a ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, as part of the Mumbai Festival

* December 2006:

br>
* February 2012:

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, Goa,

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

and Ramallah,

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...

as part of the Remember Shakti India Tour 201

Discography

Full Length Albums

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/shakti-mn0000158780/discography from 1975-2001 * '' Remember Shakti (album), Remember Shakti'' (1999)-

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

* ''

The Believer Believer(s) or The Believer(s) may refer to: Religion * Believer, a person who holds a particular belief ** Believer, a person who holds a particular religious belief *** Believers, Christians with a religious faith in the divine Christ *** Beli ...

'' (2000)-

* '' Saturday Night in Bombay'' (2001)-

* ''Live at 38th Montreux Jazz Festival'', 18 July 2004 * ''Live at Miles Davis Hall'', 8 July 1999 (Disk 16 from the John McLaughlin's ''Montreux Concerts'' Box Set, released in 2004) * ''Is that So?'' (2020)

DVDs/Videos

* ''The Way of Beauty'' directed by

Partho Sen-Gupta Partho Sen-Gupta (also spelled Partho Sen Gupta or Partho Sengupta pronounced ''Partho Shen-Goopto'') is an independent film director and screenwriter. He is a French citizen, of Indian origin. He has a post-graduate in Film Direction from FEMI ...

(2006)- Universal Music France 983 762 6 .LC 00699 This DVD features a 60 minute documentary (Shakti Timeless) on the band starting from the early seventies. John and Zakir speak about their beginnings, their era with L. Shankar and T.H. Vinayakram. The film was screened at the

Durban International Film Festival The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Founded in 1979 by Teddy Sarkin and Ros Sarkin, it is the oldest and largest film festival in Africa and ...

2007 from 20 June to 1 July 2007 in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. The DVD also includes: #45 minutes of sound check footage of Remember Shakti before a Concert at the New Morning in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

2004 # 55 minutes of a historic concert called Saturday Night in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...

(Mumbai, India) in 2000. # Two Live Concerts of the band shot with the original band (with L. Shankar & "Vikku" T. H Vinayakram from New Morning 1976 (

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

) as well as Montreux Jazz 2004. # Also contains clips from

Mahavishnu Orchestra The Mahavishnu Orchestra were a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of activity, from 1971 to 1976 ...

in Syracuse, U.S 1972. (Never seen before)

Box Sets

* ''Remember Shakti'' (2002)-

- (Includes ''Remember Shakti,'' ''The Believer,'' ''Saturday Night in Bombay,'' bonus DVD performance of ''Saturday Night in Bombay,'' and bonus track ''Niyati.)''

References

External links

Remember Shakti: Four People as One
{{Authority control British jazz ensembles Jazz fusion ensembles Verve Records artists