Shakti: Mind Explosion

This is the end—the final recording from arguably the greatest of genre-busting bands. A celebration, not only of Shakti's 50th anniversary tour in 2023 but of an entire career—one that began in 1973, when John McLaughlin and Ustad Zakir Hussain first jammed in New York's Greenwich Village. By embracing Indian Carnatic and Hindustani traditions—fused with McLaughlin's jazz DNA—Shakti broke down musical boundaries, and by extension, cultural and social boundaries as well.

Cherry-picked from multiple shows, these six tracks are also a tribute to tabla maestro Hussain, who passed away in December 2024. Shakti had survived loss before, when 'Mandolin' U. Shrinivas died prematurely in 2014, but Hussain and McLaughlin were the heart and soul of the band. No Hussain, no Shakti.

With Mind Explosion Shakti comes full circle. Its discography began with a live recording (Shakti Columbia, 1976) and it concludes with another. It is instructive to listen to these two albums, recorded 48 years apart. The contrasts—acoustic to electric guitar—and the continuities—breathless virtuosity, serenity, explosive highs—in Shakti's evolution are striking. On both albums, one feels the visceral presence of the audiences throughout. Whether in Southampton College, Long Island, in 1975, or somewhere on the road in 2023, the energy flow between the band and its audiences was central to Shakti's power.

The adrenaline surges from the outset on the incendiary "Kiki." Blisteringly quick unison lines from McLaughlin, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and vocalist Shankar Mahadevan carve a bold and brilliant path. Pulsating rhythms from percussionists Hussain and Selvaganesh Vinayakram oscillate between full-throttle rip and seductively percolating groove—rising and falling in tandem. This is virtuoso interplay at its most thrilling. McLaughlin's gritty solo, laced with rock 'n' roll riffing, is a bonus.

There is, however, more to Shakti than flaming passion. Finesse is ever-present in McLaughlin's lovingly placed minor chords and arpeggios, while the tenderness in Mahadevan's balladic delivery is pronounced. His caressing vocals on the intro to "Giriraj Sudaj"—where he holds one dancing note for 20 hypnotizing seconds—and his aching delivery on "Sakhi" draw merited applause. This latter, a bhajan (devotional song) hails from Is That So? (Abstract Logix, 2020)—a six-year labor of love between the singer and McLaughlin. Hussain, inevitably, provided the rhythms on an album that McLaughlin rates as one of the highlights of his career. Mind Explosion is another.

The juxtaposition of the haunting meditation that is "Lotus Feet"—with McLaughlin on guitar synthesizer—and the smoldering intensity of "5 in the Morning 6 In The Afternoon" serves to highlight the breadth and depth of Shakti's palette. Rajagopalan—whose joining in 2019 brought the violin back to Shakti for the first time in decades—plays at a frenetic pace on the latter of these live staples. Once again, it is the intricate unison lines hurtling towards soaring release, and the dashing call-and-response exchanges that truly take the breath away.

To coincide with it 50th anniversary tour Shakti released This Moment (Abstract Logix, 2023). The band's first studio album in 46 years, it would go on to win a Grammy Award. From that album, Shakti bows out with "Shrini's Dream"—an extended jam in honor of Mandolin Shrinivas. The sparks fly as McLaughlin solos feverishly over thunderous percussion. To great applause, Hussain and Selvaganesh solo in turn, before a konokol-cum-vocal passage culminates in soaring Mahadevan release. In salutation to his musical partner, with applause ringing, McLaughlin cries: "Ustad Zakir Hussain!" The perfect ending.

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