Remember Shakti
Encyclopedia
Remember Shakti is a quintet which combines elements of traditional Indian music
with elements of jazz
. The band consists of English
guitarist John McLaughlin
, Zakir Hussain
(tabla
), U. Srinivas
(mandolin
), Shankar Mahadevan
(vocals), and V. Selvaganesh
(kanjira
, ghatam
, mridangam), who are all of Indian descent. The band's name is derived from John Mclaughlin's acoustic India
n fusion
band Shakti
which was active in the 1970s. This band consisted of John McLaughlin
, Zakir Hussain
, L. Shankar
, T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram
, and R. Raghavan. The word Shakti
translates in Sanskrit
to "female creative power" or "goddess."
enjoyed a twenty-year hiatus before McLaughlin and Hussain decided to reform the band. In addition to John and Zakir, T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram (ghatam
, mridangam), returned for Remember Shakti's eponymous debut album in 1997. However, McLaughlin could not locate Shakti's fourth member, violin
ist L. Shankar
, and replaced him with bansuri
player Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia
for the live recording of this album.
For the band's next album, The Believer, recorded live and released in 1999, Chaurasia and Vinayakram were replaced by mandolin
player U. Srinivas
and Vinayakram's son V. Selvaganesh
. 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
), percussionist Taufiq Qureshi
who is the brother of Zakir, and Shankar Mahadevan
, who has now become Remember Shakti's fulltime vocalist. The band has toured extensively all around the world.
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
2007 from the 20th June to the 1st July 2007 in Durban
, South Africa
.
The DVD also includes:
Music of India
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
with elements of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. The band consists of English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
guitarist John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
, Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain (musician)
Zakir Hussain , , is an Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer.-Early life:Hussain was born in Mumbai, India to the legendary tabla player Alla Rakha. He attended St...
(tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
), U. Srinivas
U. Srinivas
Uppalapu Shrinivas , is an Indian mandolin player of the Carnatic musical tradition of Southern India. Shrinivas plays an electric mandolin and has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Michael Nyman, and Michael Brook...
(mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
), Shankar Mahadevan
Shankar Mahadevan
Shankar Mahadevan is an Indian music composer and singer. He is a part of the Shankar Ehsaan Loy trio team that composes for Indian films and a playback singer.-Early life:...
(vocals), and V. Selvaganesh
V. Selvaganesh
V. Selvaganesh is an Indian percussionist working in the Carnatic tradition, and is one of the leading kanjira player of his generation. He is also known as "Chella S. Ganesh."-Early life:...
(kanjira
Kanjira
The kanjira, khanjira or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. It is used primarily in concerts of Carnatic music as a supporting instrument for the mridangam...
, ghatam
Ghatam
The ghaṭam is a percussion instrument used in the Carnatic music of South India. Its analogue in Rajasthan is known as the madga and pani mataqa "water jug"....
, mridangam), who are all of Indian descent. The band's name is derived from John Mclaughlin's acoustic India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
band Shakti
Shakti (band)
Shakti was a group which played a novel acoustic fusion music which combined Indian music with elements of jazz; it was perhaps the earliest practitioner of the musical genre world fusion....
which was active in the 1970s. This band consisted of John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
, Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain (musician)
Zakir Hussain , , is an Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer.-Early life:Hussain was born in Mumbai, India to the legendary tabla player Alla Rakha. He attended St...
, L. Shankar
L. Shankar
Lakshminarayanan Shankar, also known as L. Shankar and Shenkar, is an Indian-born American violinist, singer and composer.-Early life:...
, T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram
Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram
Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram , also known as Vikku Vinayakram is a Grammy Award–winning Indian percussionist. Vinayakram plays Carnatic music with the ghatam, an earthen pot. Vinayakram is credit for the progress and development as well as popularizing of the ghatam.-Early life:Vikku Vinayakram...
, and R. Raghavan. The word Shakti
Shakti
Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
translates in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
to "female creative power" or "goddess."
Biography
After disbanding in the late 1970s, ShaktiShakti (band)
Shakti was a group which played a novel acoustic fusion music which combined Indian music with elements of jazz; it was perhaps the earliest practitioner of the musical genre world fusion....
enjoyed a twenty-year hiatus before McLaughlin and Hussain decided to reform the band. In addition to John and Zakir, T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram (ghatam
Ghatam
The ghaṭam is a percussion instrument used in the Carnatic music of South India. Its analogue in Rajasthan is known as the madga and pani mataqa "water jug"....
, mridangam), returned for Remember Shakti's eponymous debut album in 1997. However, McLaughlin could not locate Shakti's fourth member, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist L. Shankar
L. Shankar
Lakshminarayanan Shankar, also known as L. Shankar and Shenkar, is an Indian-born American violinist, singer and composer.-Early life:...
, and replaced him with bansuri
Bansuri
The bansuri is a transverse alto flute of Bangladesh, India and Nepal made from a single hollow shaft of bamboo with six or seven finger holes. An ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is intimately linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha, and is...
player Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia
Hariprasad Chaurasia
Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is an Indian classical instrumentalist. He is a player of the bansuri, the North Indian bamboo flute. Chaurasia is a classicist who has made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for classical music.-Early life:Hariprasad Chaurasia was born in...
for the live recording of this album.
For the band's next album, The Believer, recorded live and released in 1999, Chaurasia and Vinayakram were replaced by mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
player U. Srinivas
U. Srinivas
Uppalapu Shrinivas , is an Indian mandolin player of the Carnatic musical tradition of Southern India. Shrinivas plays an electric mandolin and has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Michael Nyman, and Michael Brook...
and Vinayakram's son V. Selvaganesh
V. Selvaganesh
V. Selvaganesh is an Indian percussionist working in the Carnatic tradition, and is one of the leading kanjira player of his generation. He is also known as "Chella S. Ganesh."-Early life:...
. 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
Shivkumar Sharma
Shivkumar Sharma is an Indian santoor player. The santoor is a folk instrument from Kashmir and Jammu. Sharma is often referred to by the title Pandit.-Early life:...
(santoor
Santoor
The santoor is an ancient stringed musical instrument, native to Kashmir and Iran. It is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer often made of walnut, with seventy two strings. The special-shaped mallets are lightweight and are held between the index and middle fingers...
), percussionist Taufiq Qureshi
Taufiq Qureshi
Taufiq Qureshi is an Indian classical musician. He is a percussionist and an composer.-Early life:Born in Mumbai, to legendary tabla player, Ustad Alla Rakha. His eldest brother is tabla player, Ustad Zakir Hussain. He received guidance from Ghatam Vidhwan, Pandit Vikku Vinayakram.-Career:Taufiq...
who is the brother of Zakir, and Shankar Mahadevan
Shankar Mahadevan
Shankar Mahadevan is an Indian music composer and singer. He is a part of the Shankar Ehsaan Loy trio team that composes for Indian films and a playback singer.-Early life:...
, who has now become Remember Shakti's fulltime vocalist. The band has toured extensively all around the world.
Concert tours
- January 2005: At the Gateway of IndiaGateway of IndiaIts design is a combination of both Hindu and Muslim architectural styles, the arch is in Muslim style while the decorations are in Hindu style. The Gateway is built from yellow basalt and reinforced concrete. The stone was locally obtained, and the perforated screens were brought from Gwalior.The...
in MumbaiMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, as part of the Mumbai Festivalhttp://www.mid-day.com/columns/2005/jan/102153.htm - December 2006: MumbaiMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
http://www.ryze.com/posttopic.php?topicid=783953&confid=786
Full Length Albums
- Remember Shakti (1999)- Universal RecordsUniversal RecordsUniversal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
- The Believer (2000)- Universal RecordsUniversal RecordsUniversal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
- Saturday Night in Bombay (2001)- Universal RecordsUniversal RecordsUniversal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
- Live at 38th Montreux Jazz Festival, 18 July 2004
- Live at Miles Davis Hall, 8 July 1999 (Disk 16 from the John McLaughlin Montreux Concerts Box Set, released in 2004)
DVDs/Videos
- The Way of Beauty directed by Partho Sen-GuptaPartho Sen-GuptaPartho Sen-Gupta is an independent film director and screenwriter of Indian origin.-Biography:Born in Mumbai , on 2 September 1965...
(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
Durban International Film Festival
The Durban International Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. It is one of the oldest and largest film festival in Southern African and presents over 200 screenings celebrating the best in South African, African and...
2007 from the 20th June to the 1st July 2007 in Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
The DVD also includes:
- 45 minutes of sound check footage of Remember Shakti before a Concert at the New MorningNew Morning (club)New Morning is a Parisian music nightclub that opened in 1981, specialising in jazz and blues.Its concerts are often featured on Mezzo TV.-History:The first concert was given on 16 April 1981 by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers....
in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
2004 - 55 minutes of a historic concert called Saturday Night in Bombay (Mumbai, India) in 2000.
- Two Live Concerts of the band shot with the original band (with L. Shankar & "Vikku" T. H Vinayakram from New MorningNew Morning (club)New Morning is a Parisian music nightclub that opened in 1981, specialising in jazz and blues.Its concerts are often featured on Mezzo TV.-History:The first concert was given on 16 April 1981 by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers....
1976 (Montreux Jazz FestivalMontreux Jazz FestivalThe Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...
) as well as Montreux Jazz 2004. - Also contains clips from Mahavishnu Orchestra in Syracuse, U.S 1972. (Never seen before)
Box Sets
- Remember Shakti (2002)- Universal RecordsUniversal RecordsUniversal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
- (Includes Remember Shakti, The Believer, Saturday Night in Bombay, bonus DVD performance of Saturday Night in Bombay, and bonus track Niyati.)