When Shakti emerged from the ashes of the Mahavishnu Orchestra it was documented in a South Bank Show. Although I was listening to soul music almost exclusively by then, McLaughlin had left an indelible mark on me and it seemed extraordinary that he had wound up a band who had enjoyed remarkable success making instrumental music with odd time signatures, unusual influences and previously unheard levels of virtuosity, for a band whose music seemed - at the time - alien and ‘other’ and almost primitive.
I still wouldn’t make any claim to know anything about Indian music and - least of all – Indian classical music. I’ve been indoctrinated by the western preoccupation with melody over everything else and the blind (and deaf) obedience to British and American media myths the same as everybody else. However, with the benefit of almost half a century of voracious music listening, it appears to me that the original three Shakti albums – or at least the second and third – were positioned to attract a more western audience with shorter pieces, greater use of repetitive melody, hooks and heads and an immediate jouissance of joyfulness. In contrast and in hindsight, the Remember Shakti tours and albums of the late nineties and early nowties seem to draw - to a greater degree - on the Indian influences, with much longer pieces requiring greater patience than western audiences for ‘popular culture’ generally have to spare for music.
I’ve only arrived at this conclusion on seeing the latest incantation of the band live and having more time to digest the new album. The obvious change is the greater use of vocals beyond the occasional konokol of earlier line-ups. There’s also a return to shorter pieces and I imagine this group will appeal more to western audiences due to greater familiarity with Indian music throughout society and I wonder if this is part of the master-plan. Furthermore I suspect the voice will also increase their popularity amongst Indian listeners both in the UK and the sub-continent.
Perhaps most significantly, Indian music has become cool again, but this time it goes beyond British and American pop groups appreciation of Ravi Shankar (who – like Remember Shakti - I also saw during the celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the partition of India and Pakistan) and their superficial use of the sitar as a novelty.
This was true of the live show but more so of the album, that the prolific vocals were less of a problem the further they go on. With scant exceptions (Sinatra, Beefheart, Gabriel), the only singers I like come from soul, reggae and blues, so this was never going to do it for me, but I found it inoffensive, un-intrusive and impressive, as often as not used more as an instrument than to convey lyrics (I think).
The album is dedicated to the late U Shrinius, who played mandolin on later versions of Remember Shakti, who co-wrote one piece with singer Shankar Mahavedan who also wrote another. There’s one group composition, another by Vinayakaram and three by McLaughlin. I’d recommend it to anybody with any interest in Indian music, though my preference for the original band remains, with Natural Elements my favourite of their three albums. Steve T
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