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John McLaughlin/Remember Shakti: The Way of Beauty
John Kelman
With the realization that there will always be more music coming at him than he can keep up with, John wonders why anyone would think that jazz is dead or dying.What's also clear is that, while everyone gets the opportunity to demonstrate their seemingly endless flow of ideas, they group's approach is also egalitarian and mutually supportive. During Shrinivas' "Giriraj Sudha, the first piece in the Live in Bombay concert, McLaughlin does little other than trigger a soft drone with his laptop and join in on the occasional restatement of the theme. The rest of the time he is engaged in a rhythmic hand motion that's as much visual as it is occasionally percussive. The connection between Hussain—who has since evolved from playing strictly tablas to adding additional percussion and cymbals—and Selvagahesh is equally empathic, the two seeming to intuit complex rhythmic figures on a subconscious level.
The documentary provides historical context on the emergence of the original Shakti and its inability to find its niche at the time because it was, frankly, ahead of its time. It also explains why the reformed group had to be called Remember Shakti. It's a very different band and the concepts are much more evolved. With McLaughlin introducing modern technology to the group, and even Shrinivas and Mahadevan using some signal processing, Remember Shakti is a considerably more modern group than its predecessor. Shakti may have broken ground in its finding cultural nexuses, but Remember Shakti takes that concept and updates it, without ever losing the sense of history behind the music.
Additional concert footage sheds further light on the evolution of the group. A 15-minute clip from Shakti's 1976 performance at Montreux, playing "Joy, from their first release, couldn't be more aptly titled. And while a 10-minute 2004 Montreux clip of Remember Shakti shows just how much the group has evolved, the 45-minute sound check footage from a 2004 Paris show sheds, perhaps, the most light on the group and how it works from an insider's perspective. It also demonstrates how, while an audience can create energy that pushes artists to greater heights, when you have a group of musicians such as these who clearly love playing together, even sound checks can yield thoroughly exciting results.
McLaughlin continues to pursue a wide variety of musical avenues including his outstanding fusion release, Industrial Zen (Verve, 2006), but in many ways Shakti and Remember Shakti appear to have provided the most pure and joyful musical experiences of his career. Certainly the concert footage finds McLaughlin in incredibly high spirits, not only with respect to his own playing, but in his appreciation of those around him. There are even times when he seems to be shaking his head in amazement to find himself in the center of such a remarkably creative and dynamic energy field.
Experiencing The Way of Beauty you may well find yourself shaking your head in amazement as well.
Personnel: Remember Shakti: John McLaughlin: guitar; Zakir Hussain: tabla, percussion; U.Shrinivas: mandolin; Shenkar Mahadevan: voice; V. Selvaganesh: kanjira, ghatam, mridangam. Guests on Live in Bombay: Shiv Kumar Sharma: santur; A.K. Pallanivel: tavil; Dabashish Bhattacharya: Hindustani slide guitar; Sivamani: drums, percussion. Shakti: John McLaughlin: guitar; L. Shankar: violin; Zakir Hussain: tabla; T.H. Vinayakram: ghatam, mridangam.
Features: The Way of Beauty Documentary (62 minutes); Live in Bombay, 2001 (Remember Shakti plus guests, 57 minutes); Live in Montreux, 2004 (Remember Shakti, 10 minutes); Sound Check in Paris, 2004 (Remember Shakti, 45 minutes); Live in Montreux, 1976 (Shakti, 15 minutes).
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