''Remember Shakti'' is a live album by the

world fusion "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical category pose obstacles to a u ...

band

Remember Shakti Remember Shakti is a quintet which combines elements of traditional Music of India, Indian music with elements of jazz. The band consists of England, English guitarist John McLaughlin (musician), John McLaughlin, and Zakir Hussain (musician), Z ...

recorded in England over four nights, and released in 1999 on the

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * '' The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee h ...

label. The reformed group features original members John McLaughlin (guitar), Zakir Hussain (

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

) and

Vikku Vinayakram Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram (born 11 August 1942), also known as Vikku Vinayakram, is an Indian percussionist. He is also known as the God of ''ghatam''. He plays Carnatic music with the ''ghatam'', an earthen pot, and is credited with popula ...

(

ghatam The ''ghaṭam'' (Sanskrit: घटm ''ghaṭ''; Kannada: ಘಟ ''ghaṭa''; Tamil: கடம் ''ghatam''; Telugu: ఘటం ''ghataṃ''; Malayalam: ഘടം ''ghataṃ'') is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across the ...

), who are joined by

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) (present day Prayagraj) in the Indian ...

on the

bansuri A bansuri is an ancient side-blown bamboo flute originating from the Indian Subcontinent. It is an aerophone produced from bamboo and metal-like material, used in many Indian and Nepali Lok songs. A ''bansuri'' is traditionally made from a ...

(Indian flute). The album reached number 14 in the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top Jazz albums chart. The album features three compositions by McLaughlin and two by Chaurasia. Of the McLaughlin pieces, "The Wish" previously appeared on the 1995 McLaughlin album '' The Promise''. "Lotus Feet" was included on the 1976

Mahavishnu Orchestra The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin (musician), John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of a ...

album '' Inner Worlds'', with a truncated version appearing on the 1976 live album ''

Shakti Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; 'energy, ability, strength, effort, power, might, capability') in Hinduism, is the "Universal Power" that underlies and sustains all existence. Conceived as feminine in essence, Shakti refer ...

''. "Zakir" was previously heard on the 1987 Hussein album '' Making Music'' as well as on the McLaughlin album "Concerto For Guitar & Orchestra 'The Mediterranean' - Duos For Guitar & Piano" (1988).

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Heather Phares commented that, in comparison with the original version of

, "Remember Shakti has a more meditative, fluid feel... but McLaughlin's subtle, hypnotic guitar work bridges Shakti's past and present... An emotionally rich, musically accomplished album, ''Remember Shakti'' reunites a unique group of players." The authors of the ''

Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on compact disc, CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions wer ...

'' awarded the album 3 stars and wrote: "there is plenty of virtuosic playing and a joyous abandon which fans of the original group will value." Writing for

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, Walter Kolosky stated: "''Remember Shakti'' is reflective, serious East-meets-West music. It is not without some hilarity however—Vikku's laughter can be quite contagious. It is also not without some truly virtuoso moments and plenty of drama."

Track listing

Disc one

# "Chandrakauns" (Hariprasad Chaurasia) – 33:35 # "The Wish" (John McLaughlin) – 18:40 # "Lotus Feet" (John McLaughlin) – 7:33

Disc two

# "Mukti" (Hariprasad Chaurasia) – 63:30 # "Zakir" (John McLaughlin) – 9:10

Personnel

–

* Zakir Hussain –

* John McLaughlin –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

–

;Other credits * Jean-Philippe Allard – executive producer * Jean Luc Barilla – design * Max Costa – mastering, mixing * Sven Hoffman – engineer, mixing assistant * Christian Pégand – production coordination * Daniel Richard – executive producer

References

{{Authority control 1999 live albums Shakti (band) albums Verve Records live albums