Shakti India John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussein. Shankar,Vikku

[walterkolosky1]

“When I hear new music coming into my head, its mission is integrated into its notes. It basically tells me how it wants to be.” – John McLaughlin. From Page 1 of the book  “Follow Your Heart – John McLaughlin song by song.”

[florafox]

@nevertheless123 it is John himself explaining the role of spiritual music which fools like you will never be able to grasp. When he says "you" he doesn't mean the listener personally, because he is talking about the role every good musician has to play when he enters the stage. "Consciousness" is the connecting link between all people who participate, it is the screen where everything is connected to everything. Listen to my own music which i have written and played : emeraldo.de

[emeraldomusik]

nevertheless 123 ! now youtube is fed up to the back teeth with your stupid comments. you should go elsewhere or shut up.

[gusletarist]

Here is EVEREST of world, jazz, fusion, rock and live acoustick music

[keo774]

yeah really a great video and document of that era!

THIS IS MUSIC FROM HEAVENS!

[SuperJolly200]

thank you! :)

[nevertheless123]

the crowd looks like a bunch of dopeheads!

and the music is a lot of pointless rambling.

[slipyourhips]

@nevertheless123 pointless? wow, keep smokin buddy

[encephalong]

@nevertheless123 And you are stupid.

[emeraldomusik]

@nevertheless123 your comment says much more about you and nothing about the music.

[nevertheless123]

@emeraldomusik trust me I think John Mclaughlin, L Shankar, and Zakir are great artists,

and I used to be a HUGE fan of Shakthi.

but I would rather prefer well thought out music rather than "jamming".

there is much more musical content in pre-composed music than these "fusion" concerts which merely sound good if you are on dope...nothing more. There is nothing to take out of this!

I would rather love to hear John play Rodrigo or Albeniz or Bach rather than ramble.

IMHO!

[emeraldomusik]

@nevertheless123 it is really funny how you are argueing against all kinds of improvised music without even realizing it. But improvisation can be written down on paper and composed music can be kept in mind without script by the composer or by someone with good ears. The level of "jamming" which these guys are using is much higher than the composed music of many others because of their intuition and interaction they are able to master. Improviso means unforseen, you prefer forseen music.

[nevertheless123]

@emeraldomusik dude, I grew up improvising music for 15 years. I am not against it. All composing is improvising!

anyways my point is not that these guys are performing at a high level. But do you know about rythmic complexity in carnatic music or harmonic complexity in western music? Neither is present in this "jamming". just playing fast and adding some exotic ragaas doesnt mean much to me.

I guarantee you. This isnt serious music.

well, this is getting too complex for a youtube discussion.

[emeraldomusik]

@nevertheless123 i have studied indian music in its original language and i have played together with some musicians from india , with pandit giri raj (sitar) and with ravi tanna (tabla) who was a disciple of Pandit Samta Prasad also known as Gudai Maharaj who is considered to be one of the best tabla players of all times (check it out) and i doubt you are able to tell me something new about music.

[nevertheless123]

@emeraldomusik As I said this is too much to discuss for a youtube channel. And what is the point?

I am happy for your musical training. Enjoy!

[nevertheless123]

@emeraldomusik "i doubt you are able to tell me something new about music."

Anyone who says this really doesnt know any music.!!! LOL

You are so full of it.

[nevertheless123]

@emeraldomusik "i doubt you are able to tell me something new about music."

Do you know what counterpoint is? do you know what harmony is? I doubt it. There is something I can tell you new about music.

Music is an endless ocean, and any one who says what you said is obviously an ignorant, self aggrandizing fool.

[keo774]

@nevertheless123 no. youre wrong

[nevertheless123]

@emeraldomusik nevertheless, I will agree that Shakthi was a very interesting experiment.

They did contribute something interesting....kept me excited when I was a kid !

[nevertheless123]

@emeraldomusik another point is that each artist here is capable of far more. Zakir for example is an incredible rythmic genius. IT just doesnt show up here. L shankar too, quite an incredible violinist.

[truthslap]

Very cool, great upload!

[brwnhornet59]

What true masters. This Music is as timeless as the day it was recorded!

Ommm

[florafox]

it is a musical revelation ! John is playing with time and rhythm as it would be an elastic band of rubber ( especially from 6:30 to 7:00 ) this has a serious cultural meaning because in the western part of europe rhythm and drums were always considered as "satanic" and "bad for prayer" (cited from Sebastian Virdung 1511) India always had the best mathematic experts (and software !)

[Maureclaire]

Wonderful !!!

[pooginmouse]

My first concert ever was Shakti. Totally amazing!! Odd show overall. Shakti opened and blew us all away , followed by Weather Report (with Jaco), and finally Santana. Sort of a reverse

lineup as far as talent and intensity. Still an amazing show!

[brwnhornet59]

I loved Natural Elements. I never considered any Shakti album commercial, Al. Of course, Shakti with John McLaughlin was exceptional also. Classifying any McLaughlin project in the category of "Commercial", is a little over the top, unless you look at some of his less memorable projects in the 90's. Since i first heard him with Miles, i have been an avid McLaughlin fan. His furthering of World music is intrical in it's evolution. Thats just my opinion.

OM

[vakibs2]

this is music playing john like he said :)

[AbhiMrgm]

excellent adaptability of guitar with a raaga

[countdumas]

@bhiMrgm AGreat holistic bands are---Melting Euphoria, Ozric Tentacles, Gong, Mother Gong, Acid Mother's Gong, Magma, Aphrodities Child, Jade Warrior, Steve Tibbetts, Patrick Bernard, Lost at Last, Larry Coryell, Shakti, Oregon, Kazumi Watanabe, Toninho Horta, Egberto Gismonti, Eat Static, System 7, Lisa Gerrard, Dead Can Dance, Magma, Sphongle, Bill Laswell, Stomu Yamashta, Here and Now band, Steve Hillage.

[rogerjazzfan]

Awesome! This is the greatest Shakti video. The greatest Shakti document. Thanks to post this.

[maxgraff]

This group was like 25 years ahead of its time. Sheer energy sheer Shakti

[Circuit7Active]

Remember Shakti

[mrprogjazzgto]

Excellent jam...!!

I saw Shakti in NYC at the Palladium in the 70's... Awesome shows..!!

John always SMOKES @<@

[sourabhnayan]

great !

[asiantraveller]

Amazing....

saw them in Calcutta, out of all places with 40.000 others! A memory to cherish...the pioneers of worldmusic.

[opticalvibes]

I cant believe john's playing..I forgot how great he is!

[wasuranum]

¡Simplemente hermoso! en lo personal me agrada más "a handful of beauty", pero natural elements, en efecto, tiene una tremenda potencia catartica a la cual no es posible resistir.

I'm a maha-fan too.

[mehfil3]

Superb. Kia Baat!!

[lfitomshi]

This piece is titled "India" from Shakti's second album called "A Handful of Beauty." John once said in an interview that "Natural Elements" focused more on composition and "A Handful of Beauty" focused on soloing. He was probably speaking in a general sense, of course.

[LodoGrdzak]

I'd argue Natural Elements is far and away the best Shakti record and the greatest McLaughlin of all time. For about a half-dozen years or more, McLaughlin was the best all-round guitarist in the world. How many musicians can say that on their instrument?

[lfitomshi]

I agree. Although I personally don't prefer the last couple of CD's by John, I think he's still one of the top guitarists of the greatest list.

[StrangeShadesOfBlack]

I think he is the best guitarist that ever was.Consedering everything.And his picking technic is still the best there is

[al19766]

Sorry don't agree with you. Natural Elements for me was a little too commercial. In my opinion his best album was Shakti with John McLaughlin. It had everything, absolute melodic rawness of Joy and absolute melodic subtleness of Lotus Feet.

[gh103]

@LodoGrdzak He still is. There's nobody to touch him. Simple.

[LodoGrdzak]

@gh103 I'm sure if McLaughlin did what I wanted him to do, I'd still find him to be greatest of all time. Its just that his tastes and sensibilities have changed from mine. I guess I shouldn't have phrased my comment to sound as though I'd felt his talent had waned. Its more like, he and I have gone in somewhat different musical/aesthetic directions.

[timminananda]

yes, that's it. "open". I think that is an element which truly draws people to this kind of jughalbandi - the open feel, as well as the interplay. Much of it reminds people of jazz, without the overwhelming complexity. Indian classical music, on which this is based, may have odd meters; but it doesn't try to BE something, just reach out to draw you in. Do you get what I mean? I have a bunch of old Shakti on tape; I'm going to dig it out and digitize it soon. Dank voor het antwoord.

[florafox]

nice Lady in 4:08 !

[timminananda]

Fabulous, Maha-fan. Wow. That takes me back some ways. Saw them in NY at the Bottom Line and - yeah - they could blow the roof off. It is significant that people today still see the grandeur of the music and, more, understand the significance to the players themselves. Indian music is like an intense meditation; very spiritual and not at all about howmanynotesMcLaughlincanplay

8 > D

[teemingup]

Totally agree with your kind and true words. I am a tabla student, and I am going to hear Mc Laughlin in my own city of The Hague Holland in a few weeks! The "Natural Elements" album is a very special one for me. Although I have everything that this band has released. Just great, open music!

[florafox]

it is "India" from "a handful of beauty"

fantastic version, thanx Mahavishnu018 !

[pietroanania]

great and rare

[LodoGrdzak]

This is from the 2nd album (forget its name)--not Natural Elements. Thanks for post--love it Mahavishnu!

[pranavaswaroop]

masterpiece