SHAKTI -1975-1977 John McLaughlin: guitare acoustique; L. Shankar: violon Zakir Hussain: tabla T. H. "Vikku" Vinayakram: Ghatam Ramnad Raghavan: Mridangam
One afternoon in 1977 I was getting ready to go see Shakti at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. I started playing A Handful of Beauty Album by Shakti in my apartment pretty loud. After awhile my 83 year old, cantankerous apartment manager started pounding on my door. Fully expecting her to complain about the loud music, instead she stood there with an astonished look on her face. Almost breathless she proceeded to ask me what I was playing, saying it was the most beautiful music she had ever heard. That evening at the concert I was sitting two rows from the stage. In the row in front of me several guys started to light up joints. Before the first song was over one told his friends we don't need drugs anymore, saying this music is beyond anything he had ever heard. Without question Shakti was the most profound and transcendent musical experience of my life. Eventually I started an audio company dedicated to improving home audio performance and named it SHAKTI.
@@pritamlaskar In the Veda’s the universe is described as being created by the energy of God (Brahma) maintained by another energy (Vishnu) and destroyed by yet another energy (Shiva). All there is come from God - the outpouring of his energy (Shakti). 🕉️
Few days ago I was watching a movie called Monkey Man. which is based in India, and was surprised when i heard the word 'shakti' a few times. Later on Zakir Hussain made a cameo appearance playing tabla. It was wonderful to see him after so many years. Shakti was one of the best bands of all time
You can hear the influence of Ravi Shankar in John McLaughlin's playing. For someone who came from the jazz world, JM's understanding of the structure of Indian music was mind boggling, for most musicians it would take many years to play well in that idiom, McLaughlin seemed to understand it right away, as if it was second nature! The first time I saw Shakti was in 1973 on Chip Monk's short lived TV show, I wish there was a video of that show. I was fortunate to have seen Shakti live at the Calderone Theater on Long Island, in 1975. There are many tribute bands of famous groups but I've never heard of a Shakti tribute band*, it shows how difficult it is to play like that. *There is a contemporary group of Indian musicians who have formed a Shakti tribute band and they are damn good!
I count myself fortunate to have seen them in Paris in 1977. I remember thinking something like “There’s a guy with a clay pot - what is he going to do with that?” Then I found out!
Nothing that I have done in my life and none of my tastes suggest that I should i have been on the video. I do not know what they are playing or anything about the music, but I can tell it was magical experience..and then I saw your comment..so what took you to the concert?
Am grateful to've experienced the Indian Maestros playing live together; and was it mental; and add to this the manic energy of JM ... 🤯 #Blessed #Grateful
Same. 1976-ish in minneapolis. I'd gotten tickets with friends based on an older brothers "go see them" . They walk out, sit..... I'm thinking ... is that all ? Turned out to be utterly absorbing.
My favorite jazz guitarist of all time, the sole player who got me into it. The body of work the guy has put out is mind boggling. For me he’s the most diverse jazz guitarist as well. He can do beautiful pretty stuff, acoustic, Indian, modal, avant garde, straight ahead bebop, and can shred your head off with electric jazz rock.
I don't think anybody realises the pure genius of L Shankar in this performance.....he was in full flow and a zone of his own....as close to Nirvana as one can get...
Yes, L. Shankar is pure genius. Virtuoso supreme of the violin 🎻 and music 🎶. I love him so much, ever since his beautiful record Pancha.... I've seen him three times: in Marin, S F., and Berkeley; with Zakir.........(!) I took a cassette of that record to India in 1996, and forgot it there! So he was taken to his homeland, and remains there....... Supreme gratitude 🙏 and love 🕉
The interplay within all members of Shakti is, to me, unparalleled and unmatched by any group. They move like Starling murmurations-each possessing some innate knowledge to what his neighbor will do before it even happens and creating a musical flow unlike anything that has come before or will follow. They were an Enigma.
I learned about this band from a recent Tiny Desk concert. I only learned about Zakir Hussain last year from a recent concert that was on UA-cam for awhile. I'm 50. I was three when they performed this, and JM and Zakir look exactly the same...play exactly the same. Incredible 🙏🕉️
John McLaughlin changed my musical life. Once with Miles Davis, once with The Mahavishnu Orchestra, and with Shakti. When I saw him with Shakti the first time Jeff Beck opened for him. When I saw him in N.Y.C in a small jazz club. He was no more then 5 feet from me. He was just incredible as was the rest of Shakti. Peace.
was that the Blue Note? I saw a Shakti reunion there, musta been early/mid ‘90s…unbelievable experience, seeing this brings it all back. sitting so close to them playing this was one of the most intense musical experiences of my life, and I’ve had some great ones…
i believe miles davis suggested to john to go out on his own ....let us not forget chick corea and and herbie hancock played with miles on his bitches brew lp which changed music for the better forever
@@user-tg4uz9lg1f and 10 years before that Miles Davis " Kind of Blue" changed music also . It's considered one of the most influencial album ever recorded. Yeah Miles Davis was a genius. He was the proving ground for some of the greatest if not the greatest musicians, and music of all time.
I always preferred John’s acoustic work. It’s simply brilliant. Flawless technique and a deep knowledge of both western and eastern music theory, harmony, rhythm and improvisation.
Shakti means creative energy, and ecstatic, blissful energy. John on his extraordinary guitar 🎸. L. Shankar on supreme violin 🎻 Zakir on marvelous tabla Vinayakram on incredible clay pot These concerts are a force of nature. A world 🌎 treasure ✨ 💖. Pure blissfulness and joy. Intelligence, emotional, spiritual fulfillment and transcendence. 🕉 🙏
This is the highest level of musicianship you'll ever be able to witness knowone has come anywhere near it you can see why it's called Joy to it would be utter bliss to play at this level.
John...just keeping up with Shankar gives you legendary guitar status let alone inventing Jazz Rock ...Notice how he takes traditional Indian motifs and uses blues licks...what a legend
I agree with Pat Metheny and he should know. I was fortunate enough to grow up in Hawaii where every great musician made stops on their way to Asia. I have always loved Jeff Beck's music and he stopped and did a concert along the way with artists that were in between his blow by blow and wired album and it was very incredible and revealing and as I was walk ing down Waikiki Beach the next morning sitting under the banyan at the moana hotel by himself or so it seemed was Mr Beck and being an 18 yr old street urchin I sidled up and sat down at his table and ended up having an hour conversation with him about what music was and where it could take us and I eventually asked him who he listened to when he listened to other folks music and sitting right there with the lid off that box off he straight out told me mahavishnu John McLaughlin. I told him I had listened to some of the things he had done with Caldwell and Goodman and Hammer and Ponty and he told me to listen further and to listen to shakti. in a year I had the opportunity to go work building and repairing aircraft in long Beach CA and while I was there at the Santa Monica civic I saw a concert advertised as John McLaughlin and shakti. I had no idea what to expect but what I saw changed the world around me. I'm 64 now and fucked up and dying from skin cancer after sailing around and living on boats for years so if I remember correctly it was just what appeared to be 5 dudes that were rather unkempt as much as me sitting on the floor of the stage with normal lighting and missing any amplification or wiring and for 2 hrs I had a very hard time trying to figure out where all the sound could be coming from I looked allover all over for hidden wiring and amplification and the sound seemed to be only coming from these old indian gentleman that looked to be 100 years old each. now Mr. McLaughlin himself who is mellow and charming and subdued and res- pectful. seemed even himself to be in awe of these musicians. I certainly was and to this day I wish I could be sitting their trying to figure where all that sound was coming from and I would graciously like to thank Mr. Jeff Beck for pointing the way on my lifes trek and showing me how to feel and be good with myself with just some tunes that for no other reason cann make you listen and relax and make you walk away just feeling damn good inexplicably except the tones smacked you in the head and knocked the rubbish out of it like a hot shower could clean the outside of a filthy body. it took your brain and shampooed it. thank you Mr. John McLaughlin thank you Mr. Jeff Beck aloha
At the end of July 1976, Shakti played The Hammersmith Odeon three nights running - with Weather Report and The George Duke/Billy Cobham band...what an evening line up! My friend and I were such big fans we had front row seats for all three nights... Never forgot it and now I’m nearly 70!
@@JonesyTheCat He had some sort of a fallout, I believe, and doesn't play with them anymore...the band is coming together for their 50th anniversary this year - while Selvaganesh (vikku's son) will be there on all the concerts, Vikku is expected to join John and Zakir in couple of them....but sadly, no Shankar. He has now dyed his hair golden and performs solo...and is still magnificent.
Saw him with McLaughlin/Shakti in Central Park NYC on a hot summer night. A giant butterfly hovered right above Zakir Hussein’s head...he played a percussive flourish to it and it flew off. Coolest musical moment of my lifetime.
I think the question is why isn't music like this appreciated now? Do musicians want to play it? Do people want to hear it? Do they know it even exists? Are we less spiritual as a race now?
Greg Maffei . Alas we are less spiritual , more than we’ve ever been I think . Someday the light will shine so brightly that , hopefully , all will see .
Everyrhing is an event of course, and as all events occur within the known world all events are therefore cosmic. I know what you mean though. Kind of.
So extremely beautiful. Met John once after a concert in Stockholm and gave him my homemade picks, which he examined and truly thanked me for. A truly humble gentleman and a genious with the strings. Love.
The worlds best and most distinctive guitarist. Modern shredders seem to use the same scales which makes them indistinguishable from each other but you can immediately recognize john when he starts to play. He and 10cc's eric stewart (1st four albums) influenced me as a guitarist and are the only two that really "spoke" to me!
I saw Shakti in Chicago in 1977. An unforgettable Event. ***My 1st date - I received red roses (I left them on the stage - as an offering for John and the other band members) I’m a trumpeter, but great music - is just that.....It touched my soul....I listen to this day - and have shared this joy with my musical children. 🙏💐🙏
1976 : Shakti was released 1976 : I was born 2022 : i am still listening Creation itself is a "Big Musical Bang" . Playing it in a loop strips my ego, my ambitions, my jealousy, my anger, frustrations ...a long list of vices . I feel so humbled ....so light weight. May we all live in peace and with love in our hearts .
Am hearing altered states in their music from listening. Each instrument is played to perfection and their sense of ensemble is pure and aligned. Entering altered realms listening to them. With nothing but clear head and open ears and heart. No added ingredients necessary.
saw them in cincinnati in the late 70's. they were late and i stood out in the freezing cold for 45 minutes. while waiting, i promised myself that i would never go to another concert in my life. i made the same promise to myself on the way out, but for a different reason. how can ya top that?
No tricks or auto tone on THIS. Just pure talent and love of music. The bond between Zakir and JM is soooo apparent here. No coincidence that this song is called "Joy". I smile every time I hear it.
It's called autotune, and nobody's singing on this. The autotune comment is getting as old as a guy yelling Freebird. Ugh. I share your love of Shakti though, they are total "Joy" for me too!
@@richbailey8174 the latest one I ran into argues there has been no good music of any kind in 30 years. I gently suggested there are many great bands now too, and that younger musicians today are much more technically advanced then they were back then. He bit my head off. Sigh...
I see many people say "aaah it's not played anymore". There are still TONS of bands playing complex and spiritual music. Not necessarily in this precise style but that exists. They just are not supported by major record companies anymore so you have to google , look on websites like bandcamp you'll find tons of stuff available whether, it's prog, zeuhl, free-jazz, experimental stuff etc it's still around! Same regarding electronic music, you have heaps of interesting records around being released non-stop.
I'm a classical music composer, but used to be a touring and studio guitarist and keyboardist. john McLaughlin was always a great musician that every good guitarist aspired to learn from. his ideas, talent, and picking technique is simply amazing and flawless. Only the best players can perform like this on an acoustic guitar. I'm also a sound engineer, and it's amazing that the good microphones being used here are all still industry standards almost 50 years later....Peace!
John is an all time great. Name me another player who can play this then rock then blues then jazz then flamenco. He literally can do it all. He can jump in on a jam session anywhere anytime and elevate it. People don’t understand that
WTF? Go Away.... This is genius incarnate. That dude in the diaper pounding that clay pot has more talent than anyone you've ever seen. McLaughlin even keeping up with these guys is a miracle. The fact that he is THRIVING here is simply insane 🔥
I briefly met McLauglin in Paris a few years back. He gave a brief free concert in the Parc Floral, just as brilliant as usual. I told him that I appreciated both Mahavishnu and Shakti days, having seen him live back then decades ago. Giving me a big smile he said ‘your kidding’ ! Modest genius.
Wow my mind is significantly blown...never heard of these two until today and I don't know why...this is so impressive...I wish people knew just how impressive this is...
This is music at its best. I used to have their vrecords, all of tjem, they weren't many, back in the 70's in Stockholm and then In Brasil. Someone stole them from me. That was a great loss. What musicianship! Outstanding!!
the love for pure music shows in the faces and bodies of these legends..kudos to John to explore Indian classical music from such closeness and passion..he is a legend
The performance started with teevra and ended with teevra. I have heard such a thing after so long! Zakir Hussain and Vikku Vinayakram: this duo goes a long way back, it seems
Ain't no dang mridangam in this here euramerican-hindustani collaboration. I love that John is the slouch here--he stumbles twice very early on and he's playing too loud during his accompaniment. But the call and response with him and L Shankar?! I'll be guldurned if that ain't some of the tightest playing I ever done seen.
The girls playing the shruti drone boxes are sitting back watching the testosterone fly and thinking boys will be boys. This was one of the most impressive bands of all time, truly a masterpiece of carnatic-jazz fusion. Not many people know of John because he's never been mainstream, but he is in many ways a pioneer of guitar, pushing it to it's outermost limits.
Happy memories for me because I saw this band at a Sheffield University union gig back in '75 -awesome! I was already familiar with McLaughlin's music and had bought my first Shakti album but seeing them live was something else. The empathy between these musicians was evident which enhances the whole musical experience.
I saw them twice: once in Indianapolis with Larry Coryell as the opening act. The second time was in Chicago with Weather Report--Jaco on bass. Words can't do justice to those experiences.
I can’t imagine playing an acoustic guitar, violin, and percussion with such intensity for this long. That’s just incredible. The music, musicianship, and timing here are all just so good. It’s really amazing.
Magic! A delight to watch four masters interact. I am glad that this performance was recorded for future generations to enjoy and think about what music was.
this is pure excellence and i am almost speechless ..i have listened to john mclaughlin aka mahavishnu orchestra aka shakti ever since around the age of 18 back in 1978 ...he is undoubtedly the greatest guitarist of all time !! i love air guitaring to him for the longest time ..john and jimmy hendrix had an informal jam session which can be listened to ..in my mind john LOWERED HIS STANDARDS TO PLAY WITH JIMMY ! :)
Yngwie, eat your heart out. Scalloped fretboard acoustic with drone strings, scales from the edge of Uttar Pradesh (someone doubtless knows which), rhythms like razors. Acute, keen, sharp, involved players. This was 1975! And now we have boy bands. What happened? Anyone?
Awesome playing no doubt but I wish John used more exotic scales actually. He sticks to mostly pentatonic scales here and Shawn did the same for the most part when he played with Indian musicians. I don't get it, both are supreme incredible musicians and guitarists that have a huge knowledge of scales melody and harmony and a technique which allows them to play anything their heart desires and can hear but they both stick to mostly the common over played pentatonic scales??? Shawn did play more exotic scales when he played keys though and the slides he did emulating Indian classical music were amazing as well as the bends John is doing here, amazing! I just think players of such a high caliber could have done more with it, gone even further with the Indian classical thing. But to each his. Still it's totally awesome what they did, very innovative and beautiful music they created. I love the interaction between them, feeding their improvisations, there isn't enough of that in music today, there could always be more, more listening and responding like a conversation. It's incredible to watch.
For years I foolishly neglected listening to Shakti. “Why listen to a Western guy dabble in Indian music”, I thought, “when I could just listen to the real thing?” Boy was I misguided. I should listen to this music simply because it’s wonderful, regardless where any of them are from.
One afternoon in 1977 I was getting ready to go see Shakti at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. I started playing A Handful of Beauty Album by Shakti in my apartment pretty loud. After awhile my 83 year old, cantankerous apartment manager started pounding on my door. Fully expecting her to complain about the loud music, instead she stood there with an astonished look on her face. Almost breathless she proceeded to ask me what I was playing, saying it was the most beautiful music she had ever heard. That evening at the concert I was sitting two rows from the stage. In the row in front of me several guys started to light up joints. Before the first song was over one told his friends we don't need drugs anymore, saying this music is beyond anything he had ever heard. Without question Shakti was the most profound and transcendent musical experience of my life. Eventually I started an audio company dedicated to improving home audio performance and named it SHAKTI.
This is such an impressive story.
Shakti means strength
@@LAATTUUZZ Shakti better translates to 'energy' and in this case creative energy.
@@pritamlaskar
In the Veda’s the universe is described as being created by the energy of God (Brahma) maintained by another energy (Vishnu) and destroyed by yet another energy (Shiva). All there is come from God - the outpouring of his energy (Shakti). 🕉️
Wow...,
I love how at 4:25 Zakir just casually examines one of his fingernails in the midst of the maelstrom without missing a beat.
Loved that!
One year later & this is still the best thing on UA-cam. A musical monument of humanity. ☮️ ♥️😊
Few days ago I was watching a movie called Monkey Man. which is based in India, and was surprised when i heard the word 'shakti' a few times. Later on Zakir Hussain made a cameo appearance playing tabla. It was wonderful to see him after so many years. Shakti was one of the best bands of all time
I was a radioman on a submarine in the 70s. I played this album (tape) at breakfast! :-) Old crusty Navy Chiefs ate breakfast and didn't say a word.
Good on you 😊
You can hear the influence of Ravi Shankar in John McLaughlin's playing. For someone who came from the jazz world, JM's understanding of the structure of Indian music was mind boggling, for most musicians it would take many years to play well in that idiom, McLaughlin seemed to understand it right away, as if it was second nature!
The first time I saw Shakti was in 1973 on Chip Monk's short lived TV show, I wish there was a video of that show. I was fortunate to have seen Shakti live at the Calderone Theater on Long Island, in 1975. There are many tribute bands of famous groups but I've never heard of a Shakti tribute band*, it shows how difficult it is to play like that.
*There is a contemporary group of Indian musicians who have formed a Shakti tribute band and they are damn good!
I count myself fortunate to have seen them in Paris in 1977. I remember thinking something like “There’s a guy with a clay pot - what is he going to do with that?” Then I found out!
Nothing that I have done in my life and none of my tastes suggest that I should i have been on the video. I do not know what they are playing or anything about the music, but I can tell it was magical experience..and then I saw your comment..so what took you to the concert?
Am grateful to've experienced the Indian Maestros playing live together; and was it mental; and add to this the manic energy of JM ... 🤯
#Blessed #Grateful
Same. 1976-ish in minneapolis. I'd gotten tickets with friends based on an older brothers "go see them" . They walk out, sit..... I'm thinking ... is that all ? Turned out to be utterly absorbing.
Glad you stuck around! Also glad that there’s decent video from back there, pretty unusual.
If u don't know it is called 'Ghatam'
Pat Metheny: "McLaughlin has changed the evolution of the guitar at least three times" 👏👏👏👏👏🙏
pat and john and john are probably my favorite guitarists of all time!
He IS evolution.
Yea, it was Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti and the Guitar Trio
My favorite jazz guitarist of all time, the sole player who got me into it. The body of work the guy has put out is mind boggling. For me he’s the most diverse jazz guitarist as well. He can do beautiful pretty stuff, acoustic, Indian, modal, avant garde, straight ahead bebop, and can shred your head off with electric jazz rock.
Ika
I don't think anybody realises the pure genius of L Shankar in this performance.....he was in full flow and a zone of his own....as close to Nirvana as one can get...
No one will ever match L.Shankar, he is out of this word!
Lol. Of course we realize the pure genius of Shankar. You don’t have a monopoly on that understanding.
Yes, L. Shankar is pure genius. Virtuoso supreme of the violin 🎻 and music 🎶.
I love him so much, ever since his beautiful record Pancha....
I've seen him three times: in Marin, S F., and Berkeley; with Zakir.........(!)
I took a cassette of that record to India in 1996, and forgot it there! So he was taken to his homeland, and remains there.......
Supreme gratitude 🙏 and love 🕉
as a violin/violist his work is absolutely mind blowing and eternally inspiring to me
Does anyone know why he fell off the earth? Where is he? I read somewhere that he McLaughlin didnt always get along, I wonder if that is true.
Common! And let’s not overlook Vikku Vinayakram!! Who set and kept such a pace on the Ghatam, as great an artist as all the rest!
He is so talented. Just wild.
The interplay within all members of Shakti is, to me, unparalleled and unmatched by any group. They move like Starling murmurations-each possessing some innate knowledge to what his neighbor will do before it even happens and creating a musical flow unlike anything that has come before or will follow. They were an Enigma.
Check out Grateful Dead 1973
Like avian murmurations, indeed @danno9608.
I learned about this band from a recent Tiny Desk concert. I only learned about Zakir Hussain last year from a recent concert that was on UA-cam for awhile. I'm 50. I was three when they performed this, and JM and Zakir look exactly the same...play exactly the same. Incredible 🙏🕉️
John McLaughlin changed my musical life. Once with Miles Davis, once with The Mahavishnu Orchestra, and with Shakti. When I saw him with Shakti the first time Jeff Beck opened for him. When I saw him in N.Y.C in a small jazz club. He was no more then 5 feet from me. He was just incredible as was the rest of Shakti. Peace.
was that the Blue Note? I saw a Shakti reunion there, musta been early/mid ‘90s…unbelievable experience, seeing this brings it all back. sitting so close to them playing this was one of the most intense musical experiences of my life, and I’ve had some great ones…
@@secondsightcinema3957 Montreux, France, 1976.
Jeff Beck opening?!?!🤯🤯🤯
i believe miles davis suggested to john to go out on his own ....let us not forget chick corea and and herbie hancock played with miles on his bitches brew lp which changed music for the better forever
@@user-tg4uz9lg1f and 10 years before that Miles Davis " Kind of Blue" changed music also . It's considered one of the most influencial album ever recorded. Yeah Miles Davis was a genius. He was the proving ground for some of the greatest if not the greatest musicians, and music of all time.
I always preferred John’s acoustic work. It’s simply brilliant. Flawless technique and a deep knowledge of both western and eastern music theory, harmony, rhythm and improvisation.
agreed
I just realized, that the next level, was 47 fucking years ago!!! Absolutely unbelievable!
💯
Saw them in San Francisco on this tour. First row table flying on acid. It was intense. At one point Shankar actually brought tears to my eyes.
I don't think Ravi Shankar ever played in Shakti dude
That must've been some good acid
Did you mean Zakir Hussain?
@@abeerharoon2176 He is talking about L. Shankar, the violinist
This brought tears to my eyes, and all I've ingested is some Earl Gray with a splash of non-fat milk!
Actually I miss L. Shankar a lot, unfortunately he couldn't make it for joining Remember Shakti.
😆 good ole LSD. This shit was intense to a kid like me in the 70s. Seems like I went from listening to the stones to this in one summer.
Shakti is forgotten, rarely mentioned by anyone. Why? This was a very important band
too heady for most. I was born in 92, discovered them in 2015 by word of mouth from none other than Bruce Hampton
I not mentioned because i smoke very very much grass lon time ago, was a great duo excellent virtuosims
Shakti is united to play concerts for its 50th anniversary! 1973-- 2023.
First in India then in Europe and America. (!) 🕉 gratitude 🙏 beloved 💖 ones.
Just saw them tonight. Thrilling.
Shakti means creative energy, and ecstatic, blissful energy.
John on his extraordinary guitar 🎸.
L. Shankar on supreme violin 🎻
Zakir on marvelous tabla
Vinayakram on incredible clay pot
These concerts are a force of nature. A world 🌎 treasure ✨ 💖.
Pure blissfulness and joy.
Intelligence, emotional, spiritual fulfillment and transcendence. 🕉 🙏
Some awe in there as well? When I first heard joy I remember thinking how's this possible!
This is the highest level of musicianship you'll ever be able to witness knowone has come anywhere near it you can see why it's called Joy to it would be utter bliss to play at this level.
John...just keeping up with Shankar gives you legendary guitar status let alone inventing Jazz Rock ...Notice how he takes traditional Indian motifs and uses blues licks...what a legend
I agree with Pat Metheny and he should know. I was fortunate enough to grow up in Hawaii where every great musician made stops on their way to Asia. I have always loved Jeff Beck's music and he stopped and did a concert along the way with artists that were in between his blow by blow and wired album and it was very incredible and revealing and as I was walk ing down Waikiki Beach the next morning sitting under the banyan at the moana hotel by himself or so it seemed was Mr Beck and being an 18 yr old street urchin I sidled up and sat down at his table and ended up having an hour conversation with him about what music was and where it could take us and I eventually asked him who he listened to when he listened to other folks music and sitting right there with the lid off that box off he straight out told me mahavishnu John McLaughlin. I told him I had listened to some of the things he had done with Caldwell and Goodman and Hammer and Ponty and he told me to listen further and to listen to shakti. in a year I had the opportunity to go work building and repairing aircraft in long Beach CA and while I was there at the Santa Monica civic I saw a concert advertised as John McLaughlin and shakti. I had no idea what to expect but what I saw changed the world around me. I'm 64 now and fucked up and dying from skin cancer after sailing around and living on boats for years so if I remember correctly it was just what appeared to be 5 dudes that were rather unkempt as much as me sitting on the floor of the stage with normal lighting and missing any amplification or wiring and for 2 hrs I had a very hard time trying to figure out where all the sound could be coming from
I looked allover all over for hidden wiring and amplification and the sound seemed to be only coming from these old indian gentleman that looked to be 100 years old each. now Mr.
McLaughlin himself who is mellow and charming and subdued and res-
pectful. seemed even himself to be in awe of these musicians. I certainly was and to this day I wish I could be sitting their trying to figure where all that sound was coming from and I would graciously like to thank Mr. Jeff Beck for pointing the way on my lifes trek and showing me how to feel and be good with myself with just some tunes that for no other reason cann make you listen and relax and make you walk away just feeling damn good inexplicably except the tones smacked you in the head and knocked the rubbish out of it like a hot shower could clean the outside of a filthy body. it took your brain and shampooed it.
thank you
Mr. John McLaughlin
thank you
Mr. Jeff Beck
aloha
Thanks for sharing your experience with us
Thank you for the story!
fascinating!!!
Skip Levesque
Hang in there Skip!
Find the truth, let it set you free!
...Aloha my dude...AUM❤️🌈 From Australia...saw John twice and met him..gentleman..signed my album covers..last thing I said to him was..God Bless..
Nobody has done this since then. John was ahead of his time. Everything from the compositions to the virtuosity. Music at a whole other level.
Excited to see Bela Fleck open for john in September.
We listened to JM on a loop in the 70’s I always loved that he smiled so big when playing. You can tell he just loves it and feels free
At the end of July 1976, Shakti played The Hammersmith Odeon three nights running - with Weather Report and The George Duke/Billy Cobham band...what an evening line up! My friend and I were such big fans we had front row seats for all three nights... Never forgot it and now I’m nearly 70!
Can confirm - I was there too! But only on the first night of the three and up in the back because I was only 15yo
I’ll bet that was an Almost spiritual experience
In every video I've seen of John Mclaughlin, whether it be Mahavishnu, Shakti....etc, he's always smiling. He really enjoys creating music.
The chemistry between McLaughlin and L. Shankar was incredible. Bless them both..
Shankar should have been in Remember Shakti.
@@JonesyTheCat He had some sort of a fallout, I believe, and doesn't play with them anymore...the band is coming together for their 50th anniversary this year - while Selvaganesh (vikku's son) will be there on all the concerts, Vikku is expected to join John and Zakir in couple of them....but sadly, no Shankar.
He has now dyed his hair golden and performs solo...and is still magnificent.
4:25 Zakir checking his fingernail like a boss.
I was thinking "shoot, broke a nail"
Please refer to him as "Ustad" Zakir Hussain. Please sir.
Saw him with McLaughlin/Shakti in Central Park NYC on a hot summer night. A giant butterfly hovered right above Zakir Hussein’s head...he played a percussive flourish to it and it flew off. Coolest musical moment of my lifetime.
@@sagnikpaul233 To some of us who knew him back then, he was Zakir.
I think the question is why isn't music like this appreciated now? Do musicians want to play it? Do people want to hear it? Do they know it even exists? Are we less spiritual as a race now?
Greg Maffei . Alas we are less spiritual , more than we’ve ever been I think . Someday the light will shine so brightly that , hopefully , all will see .
most people have no clue such music exists.
@@smallwonder4465 And Talvin Singh is damn good.
No, no, no, and yes.
Honestly... because its too complex. Which why pop is popular. Because of its simplicity
Like watching a cosmic event unfold.
Accurate, literally, it is a spectacle in the unfolding of cosmos
Everyrhing is an event of course, and as all events occur within the known world all events are therefore cosmic. I know what you mean though. Kind of.
This is as good as it gets!!!!! Pure manifestation of JOY!!!
So extremely beautiful. Met John once after a concert in Stockholm and gave him my homemade picks, which he examined and truly thanked me for. A truly humble gentleman and a genious with the strings. Love.
John playing Giutar like a Sitar!😁 Cooll..👏
been listening to this for over 20 years and always thought he played the sitar before I can see this video! Amazing
John McLaughlin plays straight up Indian music because he can.
The worlds best and most distinctive guitarist. Modern shredders seem to use the same scales which makes them indistinguishable from each other but you can immediately recognize john when he starts to play. He and 10cc's eric stewart (1st four albums) influenced me as a guitarist and are the only two that really "spoke" to me!
14:30 minutes of music that can never be recreated .
This is pretty much note for note off the album
I saw Shakti in Chicago in 1977. An unforgettable Event. ***My 1st date - I received red roses (I left them on the stage - as an offering for John and the other band members) I’m a trumpeter, but great music - is just that.....It touched my soul....I listen to this day - and have shared this joy with my musical children. 🙏💐🙏
Heard them in 1976 and 77! Joyful magnificence! 🙏💕
one of the greatest ensembles ever!
A monument to humanity & it's capabilities. 😘😘👽
Praising this brilliant performance on 1st Jan 2023!
Musica para los dioses gracias gattasco saludos
1976 : Shakti was released
1976 : I was born
2022 : i am still listening
Creation itself is a "Big Musical Bang" . Playing it in a loop strips my ego, my ambitions, my jealousy, my anger, frustrations ...a long list of vices . I feel so humbled ....so light weight. May we all live in peace and with love in our hearts .
I was named after this band. How about that ;)
i keep coming back to this vid for years now!
Saw them in Stockholm in that times. My jaw is still dropped.
Vikku burned more calories that day than I have in my entire life.
😂😂
hilarious!
Am hearing altered states in their music from listening. Each instrument is played to perfection and their sense of ensemble is pure and aligned. Entering altered realms listening to them. With nothing but clear head and open ears and heart. No added ingredients necessary.
this is the one that made me say "i want to do what they do". and i did, in my own small way. Thank you Shakti.
Where can we find your stuff?
The voilin sound is amazing, what a quality 👏, 🍷
Can you imagine seeing this group live?!?! Absolutely incredible set of musicians.
I saw them and of course listened to them in a great concert in Oslo. Nearest I have come to a religious experience in my life!
saw them in cincinnati in the late 70's. they were late and i stood out in the freezing cold for 45 minutes. while waiting, i promised myself that i would never go to another concert in my life. i made the same promise to myself on the way out, but for a different reason. how can ya top that?
Shakti is the only group I ever took the trouble of seeing twice. They were worth it.
@@scoopwithpudding8774 great story... I'm guessing you did go to more concerts 😉
'Joy' on the first Shakti LP is one of John's career highlights. Great to see this live.
Shakti with L. Shankar on violin.
Sounds so good. 🕉
No tricks or auto tone on THIS. Just pure talent and love of music. The bond between Zakir and JM is soooo apparent here. No coincidence that this song is called "Joy". I smile every time I hear it.
It's called autotune, and nobody's singing on this. The autotune comment is getting as old as a guy yelling Freebird. Ugh. I share your love of Shakti though, they are total "Joy" for me too!
@@jamiepastman5594 yeah...it seems wherever I go the "no tricks or auto tune" guy shows up!
@@richbailey8174 the latest one I ran into argues there has been no good music of any kind in 30 years. I gently suggested there are many great bands now too, and that younger musicians today are much more technically advanced then they were back then. He bit my head off. Sigh...
@@jamiepastman5594 I had a few back and forth with him....there is always good music if you listen and look for it.
@@richbailey8174 yep, but you gotta look. and how hard is that to do with Spotify etc now? That guy drove me nuts...
Pure consciousness energy channeled from pineal gland through the fingers to the musical instruments.
that acoustic guitar with sympathetic strings is so rare, no has ever caught on making them or using them
I see many people say "aaah it's not played anymore".
There are still TONS of bands playing complex and spiritual music. Not necessarily in this precise style but that exists. They just are not supported by major record companies anymore so you have to google , look on websites like bandcamp you'll find tons of stuff available whether, it's prog, zeuhl, free-jazz, experimental stuff etc it's still around!
Same regarding electronic music, you have heaps of interesting records around being released non-stop.
I'm a classical music composer, but used to be a touring and studio guitarist and keyboardist. john McLaughlin was always a great musician that every good guitarist aspired to learn from. his ideas, talent, and picking technique is simply amazing and flawless. Only the best players can perform like this on an acoustic guitar. I'm also a sound engineer, and it's amazing that the good microphones being used here are all still industry standards almost 50 years later....Peace!
John is an all time great. Name me another player who can play this then rock then blues then jazz then flamenco. He literally can do it all. He can jump in on a jam session anywhere anytime and elevate it. People don’t understand that
Desert music shredding ,finger gymnastics, and superspeed twiddling , I never 'got' John McLaughlan
WTF? Go Away.... This is genius incarnate. That dude in the diaper pounding that clay pot has more talent than anyone you've ever seen. McLaughlin even keeping up with these guys is a miracle. The fact that he is THRIVING here is simply insane 🔥
Kicking asses all along, brilliant✨
I saw them in Berkeley during this period .. unforgettable to this day
I briefly met McLauglin in Paris a few years back. He gave a brief free concert in the Parc Floral, just as brilliant as usual. I told him that I appreciated both Mahavishnu and Shakti days, having seen him live back then decades ago. Giving me a big smile he said ‘your kidding’ ! Modest genius.
Damn........total mesmerizing.....a psychological trip...
Wow my mind is significantly blown...never heard of these two until today and I don't know why...this is so impressive...I wish people knew just how impressive this is...
I remember the first experience off listening to joy... Mind blown + joy...
I saw this tour 1977 it was my first concert wow!
Lucky you
I was born in 1976 ...and here i am . Music is truely beyond borders and time 🙏
I had Eargasm.........tears in my eyes!!!!!
Back when musicians really put the work in. I think it's gonna be a Shakti Sunday.
so clean bruh. theyreally nailed it. laughlin the goat
Incredible
The tightness
The intensity
Never heard anything else like it
IMO, this is John Mclaughlin at his peak, but I love ❤️ all his music 🎶
This is it: the music of Heaven and Shakti!
This is music at its best. I used to have their vrecords, all of tjem, they weren't many, back in the 70's in Stockholm and then In Brasil. Someone stole them from me. That was a great loss. What musicianship! Outstanding!!
no end to listening our Shakthi. McLaughlin is guitarguruji
Listened to the CD a lot in 1990. Literally blew my mind and took me to other planes, no drugs involved.
Always thought John's greatest moments were on the acoustic guitar. His playing had both great power and delicacy. Shakti were marvellous.
Present-tense for John please!
@@elizabethkinnison7180 I was referring to his acoustic playing rather than his mortal coil.
You have a point, I agree. John has different style at different stage, he just keeps evolving.
Check his spot on Johnny Carson. I remember getting home early on a school night to watch because my parents always watched Carson.
the love for pure music shows in the faces and bodies of these legends..kudos to John to explore Indian classical music from such closeness and passion..he is a legend
The performance started with teevra and ended with teevra. I have heard such a thing after so long! Zakir Hussain and Vikku Vinayakram: this duo goes a long way back, it seems
Ain't no dang mridangam in this here euramerican-hindustani collaboration.
I love that John is the slouch here--he stumbles twice very early on and he's playing too loud during his accompaniment. But the call and response with him and L Shankar?! I'll be guldurned if that ain't some of the tightest playing I ever done seen.
The girls playing the shruti drone boxes are sitting back watching the testosterone fly and thinking boys will be boys. This was one of the most impressive bands of all time, truly a masterpiece of carnatic-jazz fusion. Not many people know of John because he's never been mainstream, but he is in many ways a pioneer of guitar, pushing it to it's outermost limits.
What's her name (she's not mentioned in the "credits", yet she seems to had been a regular member of the Shakti+McLaughlin band)?
How lucky I feel having discovered this today
Happy memories for me because I saw this band at a Sheffield University union gig back in '75 -awesome! I was already familiar with McLaughlin's music and had bought my first Shakti album but seeing them live was something else. The empathy between these musicians was evident which enhances the whole musical experience.
Story time
Saw the twice, Kennedy Center with Weather Report, and at the Cellar Door. Utterly transcendent music. Those were the days.
wow I'm terribly jealous!
I have Shakti's performance from the Cellar Door. Amazing show!
Saw them once, in Seattle. Amazing happy, transcendent music, just like this. They sat down on cushions on a carpet, just like a living room....
Is this available any place?
Thats cool as heck, i saw Joe Zawinul at the Blues Alley in like '93. Amazing stuff
I saw them twice: once in Indianapolis with Larry Coryell as the opening act. The second time was in Chicago with Weather Report--Jaco on bass. Words can't do justice to those experiences.
I can’t imagine playing an acoustic guitar, violin, and percussion with such intensity for this long. That’s just incredible. The music, musicianship, and timing here are all just so good. It’s really amazing.
It is.
??????
what the heaven this…
EXTRAORDINAIRE
I'd seen the double stringed guitar before, but this is the first time I've seen him play it.
Magic! A delight to watch four masters interact. I am glad that this performance was recorded for future generations to enjoy and think about what music was.
I feel blessed to have seen Shakti on Oct. 30, 1977 at the Royal Oak Theatre in Detroit. 🙏🏼🕉
this is pure excellence and i am almost speechless ..i have listened to john mclaughlin aka mahavishnu orchestra aka shakti ever since around the age of 18 back in 1978 ...he is undoubtedly the greatest guitarist of all time !!
i love air guitaring to him for the longest time ..john and jimmy hendrix had an informal jam session which can be listened to ..in my mind john LOWERED HIS STANDARDS TO PLAY WITH JIMMY ! :)
Young and nostalgia concert,
Beautiful blend
Yngwie, eat your heart out. Scalloped fretboard acoustic with drone strings, scales from the edge of Uttar Pradesh (someone doubtless knows which), rhythms like razors. Acute, keen, sharp, involved players. This was 1975! And now we have boy bands. What happened? Anyone?
+Dux Erraticus Unfortunately Boy Bands exist since 1966...
U leave Eng-weeeeeee outta this.....
c'mon man. the beatles are incredible. what compositions they wrote....wow!!! bach-like
Yes i would like to see lamesteen do anything like this. :)
Awesome playing no doubt but I wish John used more exotic scales actually. He sticks to mostly pentatonic scales here and Shawn did the same for the most part when he played with Indian musicians. I don't get it, both are supreme incredible musicians and guitarists that have a huge knowledge of scales melody and harmony and a technique which allows them to play anything their heart desires and can hear but they both stick to mostly the common over played pentatonic scales??? Shawn did play more exotic scales when he played keys though and the slides he did emulating Indian classical music were amazing as well as the bends John is doing here, amazing! I just think players of such a high caliber could have done more with it, gone even further with the Indian classical thing. But to each his. Still it's totally awesome what they did, very innovative and beautiful music they created. I love the interaction between them, feeding their improvisations, there isn't enough of that in music today, there could always be more, more listening and responding like a conversation. It's incredible to watch.
This is spirits communicating on a frequency we can only admire
Pure genius. Pure geniuses.
Holy crap 😳😳😳😳😳 thats some extraterrestrial music happening man ... l. Shankar is just ....
I love john. Music for him is simple something to be done, primarly.
L Shankar violinista stratosferico fra i più grandi di sempre
Electrifying! Vivacious! Goodness Godness, what a band!
i just sit and watch and just smile.... thank you shakti thank you
For years I foolishly neglected listening to Shakti. “Why listen to a Western guy dabble in Indian music”, I thought, “when I could just listen to the real thing?” Boy was I misguided. I should listen to this music simply because it’s wonderful, regardless where any of them are from.
i still have that goosebumps everytime i heard them on CD's or watched it here in UA-cam...after all these years..