Customer Reviews

Shakti

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3 star:		(4)
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John McLaughlin's Shakti was (and still is) a musical marvel like no other, blending Indian elements with the finest in-the-moment spontaneity of true jazz - and, as per usual for McLaughlin, often doing it at a dizzying pace that borders on the utterly insane. "Joy" lets us know that from the first note, kicking off with a hyper start and never letting up for its entire 18 minutes. John's acoustic guitar trades licks with L. Shankar's violin, one right after another, somehow never letting the lightning pace get in the way of the melody itself. Ahh, that's the remarkable thing about this album - they constantly weave through, over and around the central groove, never slipping into an atonal blizzard of notes but always keeping that tight control.. no matter how fast things get. McLaughlin and Shankar take shorter and shorter turns as the track builds, finally reaching a thunderous release as everyone wails away like mad. If those adjectives sound like an exaggeration for an acoustic string band, then you just haven't experienced this particular adrenaline rush for yourself.

Though the sizzling-hot group interaction stems from the jazz tradition, the compositions and instruments involved are Indian in nature: ghatam, mridangam and tabla form the basis of rhythm (and there's PLENTY of rhythm underpinning everything as well). If you don't quite know what those are, well, they basically stand for a lot of earthy tapping and thumping. They're absent through the quick "Lotus Feet," which basically serves as a peaceful breather before things fire up for the closing half-hour, but they return with a vengeance later on. A sizable portion of "What Need Have I..." gives John and Shankar a chance to catch their breath while the percussion section whips up a heady rhythmic stew all their own.. almost sounding as if there's a whole dance company pounding away rather than just three men. The track overall follows a similar approach to "Joy," but with more of a gradual buildup than a constant frenzy. I'm pretty sure that if they'd tried to keep that pace through another entire tune, half the group would have ended up collapsing onstage. Oh yeah - did I mention that all this stuff is happening live?

For all its head-spinning complexity and incredible virtuosity, this disc is eminently listenable and easily enjoyable by anyone - jazz fan or not, Indian music lover or not, fellow musician or not. If you're the least bit curious about Shakti, start right here.

John McLaughlin has been the most incredible and versatile guitarists to grace jazz and pretty much any style, and he took this ability to a greater level in 1975. Having been a disciple of a famous Indian yogi Shri Chinmoy and delving into Indian philosophy for years, John did what any genius would do: he mastered the classical Indian style. Along with virtuoso tabla player Zakir Hussain, gifted L. Shankar, and master ghatam player T.H. Vinyakaram, John gave life to a style of music that had basked in virtuosity and intensity secretly for centuries. This CD alone changed the way that a whole lot of people listened to music. It's a live concert, and undoubtedly most the audience is either of Indian nativity or Mahavishnu Orchestra fans. However, the power and beauty of the music turned these people into believers. The first track, "Joy", is incredible. The tempo is super fast, the solos are great by John and L. Shankar on violin, and it is a 20 minute experience that never gets tiresome no matter how often I listen to it. Track two, "Lotus Feet", is probably the least impressive, being strictly improvisational and the melody only coming in as the tune fades out (probably in order to keep the other songs at entirety). Track three has a lenghty title, and John even dryly quips on that fact at the beginning of it. It is just absolutely mind blowing, a good 30+ minute romp of improvisation and utter creativity. The percussion take over the last 10 or 15 minutes, after John played his heart out, Zakir and T.H. just slammed and banged their instruments with such amazing ability that the audience went nuts before the jam was even over!! I recommend this CD to fans of guitar music who are wanted to go beyond jazz and rock and get into something that's beyond the limits of western music, beyond scales and modes, beyond chords, just playing with all your heart. I've written a lot, I know, but I just love this CD so much....buy it already!!!!

As a long time fan of John McLaughlin, I was intrested to hear this album. In short I found this CD to be absolutely exhilarating to listen to. It is recorded live in the mid 70's and captures the band at their explosive best. Rarely have I seen or heard music played as fast or paradoxically as melodic as this. They navigate their way through some impossibly dense compositions with such ease that you barely notice how complex the music is. There also seems to be a joyus attitude that pervades the songs, with McLaughlin in particular playing with an almost manic intensity. Thoroughly recommended for fans of John and of fusion in general.

Around the time this album was released Mahavishnu McLaughlin had firmly established a reputation as an electric musician, his work with Mahavishnu Orchestra having firmly established a sizeable profile in the rock community. This release was a pretty drastic break with the past works with Cobham and Co as well as Miles Davis. Not well received at the time this recording nonetheless proves its mettle with the passage of time.

While all-acoustic, this is by no means a laid back musical boat cruise along the Ganges, with understated guitar strumming, mellow Vina and gentle percussion grooves. In fact, a lot of `Shakti' is quite the opposite, fiery and manic. `Joy' particularly, slams into gear right after the brief introduction, laying down an up tempo groove that builds in energy until it resembles the dance of a dervish. The solo trade-offs between guitar and vina are a treat for the ears, starting with long phrases and getting shorter before the big finale at the end. Sensational! The percussion players are no slouches either, providing just the right combination of steady groove and rapid-fire syncopation and fills to paint in the space between the assaults of string solos.

`Lotus feet' a Johnny McLaughlin standard, gets a work out as well, Not readily recognisable actually, until the fade-out at the end where the signature melody is fully played out rather than hinted at. It's sounds nice in this context though, and gives a bit of a contrast to the first track. Great playing by McLaughlin here too, fast at times but never turning the notes to mush or thrashing away mindlessly over the groove.

The last track moves back to the up-tempo territory set by `Joy'. A pretty lengthy workout at 29.03 minutes, that's longer than some CD's! Definitely something that would test the patience of your average FM pop listener, with the lengthy build-up and equally long solo sections. Fortunately, for those with an ear for accomplished musicianship and synergy between musical performers there is a great deal to like here. The liquid wailing tone of the vina makes a great foil for McLaughlin's percussive attack The percussion gradually weaves its way into the music to build a groove that becomes more noticeable. Not as fiery as `Joy' but still a great recorded improvisation. A bit of the Jazz influence creeps in here and there but is very subtle, mainly in an occasional almost-blues guitar figure, or a line that is vaguely be-bop in places. Love the long Vina lines from L. Shankar on this piece, with the interesting rhythmic feel and odd-to-western-ears phrasing. The parts where the two string instruments join together for a phrase before deftly breaking apart for respective solos is a highlight for me.

The bottom line: If you like this kind of stuff, be sure to check this out.

This is simply some of the most astounding music I have ever heard in my sweet short life. As thematically complex and profound as the greatest of Western classical music; as thrilling and viscerally exhilerating as the best of rock'n'roll; as emotionally charged and spiritually uplifting as the greatest of Gregorian chants. And, believe me, you have no idea of what the word 'virtuosity' means until you have feasted your ears upon the soul-exploding pyrotechnics displayed herein. Enough to restore the most cynical misanthropist's faith in the human race.

Here's one of the few guitar records that gives even Al Di-Meola nightmares. It is the most virtuosic of all virtuoso guitar records (you can't even play air guitar to it for more than three minutes without getting exhauted) and yet, never for its own sake. It's one thing to doodle a little in this direction as Brubeck did on "Calcutta Blues" way back in '58 or Coltrane on some of his records, and another to become a total master of the language from the inside out. McLaughlin's feat of having assimilated not only Indian music but a whole system of thought to the point where he can express himself without any restraint and fly to any extreme of musical fancy without losing a deeper sense of balance, is simply stupendous. It's on a par with what Nabokov did in literature, transforming from master Russian writer to master English writer.

To learn to play Indian Music is like training to become a Jedia In Star Wars. It takes 50 years at least to develope some technique in Indian music. However John had only been playing for over 20 years when he recorded this album, and most of it wasn't even Indian. He turly is a Superhuman. On this Album he demonstrates his superpowers. The First track is Intense and other two are mind blowing. A must have Album.

This recording presents the word improvistation with a new meaning. The four masterful musicians interact in an almost telepathic stance - the acoustic guitar is intense, the violin is mesmerising and the percussionists are mind-blowing. Imagination and innovation are limitless; boundaries between cultural differences are eliminated and the musical talent is breathtaking. The live audience testify to the wonders of this performance as one of the greatest live pieces of improvisation ever.

These guys can play! In a pop-infested modern world, going back to a recording like this might just be able to restore your hope in the human race. There is still such a thing as technical mastery and pure musical artistry out there. McLaughlin's dizzying guitar mixes brilliantly with Shankar's violin and the resonant percussionists whaling away in the background. Worth getting for the wild 18 minute intro track alone...the final two tracks get better with each meditative listening.

this cd is a must have for any accoustic guitar player/fan. i am a huge fan of fusion and indian music, and my favorite guitarsit is john mclaughlin. while all his work is good, and i have stuff he has done with miles davis, mahavishnu orchestra, carlos santana, and solo things, i think this is his best playing. i can discriminate since i am a guitar playing, and i feel that this is some of the most emotional and mind blowing guitar playing i have ever heard in my life. plus the guitar and violin compliment each other VERY nicely.