Remembering
Shakti is a reincarnation of the 1970's band Shakti,
trying to blend jazz music with the two traditional
styles of Indian music - Carnatic and Hindustani. The
result was a blissful three hour musical journey, taking
you through the intricacies of all the three styles
of music.
John
McLaughlin, the god of modern jazz music, Zakhir
Hussain, the undoubted master of the tabla, Mandolin
U.Srinivas, playing Carnatic music on the 5 stringed
electric mandolin and V.Selvaganesh (son of the
Shakti percussionist T.H.Vinayakaram) on the
kanjira, mirudangam and ghatam formed the awesome foursome
who enthralled the audience with truly mesmerizing music.
The
show started a bit late at 7.30 PM due to the traffic
block outside the hall, a result of which some of the
rasikas were not able to get into the hall on time.
The
concert opened with "5 in the morning and 6 in
the afternoon", followed by a wonderful rendering
of the abogi raga, by the time which everybody had opened
out to explore the full range of the instruments. Also
on the show was the extremely popular piece Luecy, originally
recorded by Shakti. One piece that requires special
mention is Maya, tuned by U.Srinivas. John McLaughlin
and Srinivas started the piece on a slow note, and gradually
moved on to playing faster, with Zakhir Hussain and
Selvaganesh playing complicated patterns on the tabla
and kanjira. There was also a rendering of the Thyagaraja
krithi, Giri Raga Sudha, which was followed by a "thani"
by Selvaganesh and Zakhir.
Just
when some sections of the audience began to feel it
was getting a bit monotonous, in came Thavil vidhwan
Haridwaramangalam A.K. Palanivel. John McLaughlin introduced
Palanivel to the audience saying he had performed and
recorded with them 2 years back at Mumbai.
The
way A.K. Palanivel blends the thavil, an instrument
used traditionally to accompany the Nadaswaram, with
the electric guitar, mandolin and tabla is truly amazing.
His tavil complemented the lead instruments throughout
the piece and when it was time for his solo, he took
over and came up with some outstanding patterns. Starting
with a 4/4 pattern he easily moved over to 3/4 time
and then to 5/4 time. Such was his mastery over the
thavil that you wouldn't even realise he has changed
the thalam.
This
was followed by a break, which in the words of Zakhir,
"will be a 12 minute long 9 minute break"
The
second special appearance was by the Grammy award winner
and ghatam vidhwan T.H.Vinayakaram who came on stage
to a standing ovation. What followed was a remarkable,
nearly 20 minute ghatam solo, which made people realise
why Zakhir had introduced "Vikku" Vinayakaram
as "The Ultimate". "Vikku" played
an extremely complicated pattern with 6 ¾ beats
per thalam. His mastery over the ghatam was evident.
And as is his practice in the past few years, he broke
into some chants hailing the Kanchi Sankarachariyas,
his spiritual gurus. This solo was different from his
other solos in the sense that it didn't have his usual
gimmicks thrown into it, much to the disappointment
of the audience. But when he finished he made sure he
left his stamp on the show and in the hearts of the
audience.
Coming
back to the main quartet. McLaughlin's guitar rendition
was something you'd want to give a 10/10, if you were
a judge. It is apparent that he has put in a lot of
effort to understand Indian classical music and the
intricacies that go along with it. It is a tribute to
his genius that he has performed, and excelled at it,
with some of the best names in Indian music such as
L.Shankar, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Zakhir Hussain, Vinayakaram
all of whom, have been part of Shakti at some point
or the other. His style blended with the rest of the
group. What stood out were the really fast runs that
he played, moving effortlessly across the fret board.
He showed he could keep the interest of the listener
captivated for long periods of time. The way he played
the odd chord, harmonizing Srinivas' mandolin, showed
why he is regarded as the king of Jazz. Truly a remarkable
genius.
If
John McLaughlin is the king of jazz, then Srinivas is
the prince of Carnatic Music. He oozes class. Refusing
to be left behind by the creative talents of McLaughlin
his hand sped across the 5 stringed electrical mandolin
at feverish pace, for most of the concert. There was
not one wrong note played in 3 hours of improvisations.
His speed has to be seen to be believed. The tempo he
attains while improvising is truly remarkable and mind
boggling. Srinivas played some complicated mixture of
notes, and changed them according to the complex rhythm
patterns produced by Zakhir and Selvaganesh. He came
up with some fleet fingered arpeggiations, often playing
the same note on different octaves at the same time.
John McLaughlin paid the biggest tribute to him when
he explained how he was astounded by the way Srinivas
played on his first tour to USA at the age of 12, and
ever since, he had been hoping to perform with the prodigy.
He said his wishes have been fulfilled after forming
Remembering Shakti.
Zakhir
Hussain is a true ambassador of Indian percussion. His
mastery is self evident. He never repeats a pattern
and keeps going on at a fanatic pace. The beauty in
his work lies in its subtlety. The variations he played
showed how much control he had over the tabla. It seemed
as if nothing was impossible for him that night. His
innovativeness was evident by the way in which he played
the African percussion instrument Dumbek, along with
the tabla. Suddenly the audience realised that he didn't
leave his bass drum back home either!! The bass drum
was played with a stick with his left hand, while his
right hand worked furiously on the tabla and dumbek.
Though the tabla was dominant through the first couple
of songs, almost drowning the sounds of the kanjira
and the guitar (due to bad audio mixing), Zakhir settled
into his usual self-mesmerizing the audience with his
speed and technique.
Selvaganesh
was, according to me, the surprise package of the evening.
The way he played the kanjira was truly outstanding.
The tone he generates from it, especially the bass hit,
proved his superior technique and his control over the
small instrument. He matched Zakhir's brilliance beat
to beat. He also played the ghatam and the mirudangam
with equal skill and ease. His "thani" on
the kanjira, which is his principal instrument, was
the highlight of the show. He kept the audience spellbound
for almost 20 minutes by his wizardry with the kanjira.
All in all, an amazing performer.
One
aspect about Remembering Shakti that stood out was their
coordination. Each person was sure what he had to do
and everybody got their cues right. John McLaughlin
and U.Srinivas made brilliant improvisations over the
complex polyrhythmic foundation laid by Zakhir Hussain
and Selvaganesh. The percussionists had the audience
howling in delight when they broke into syllabic rhythms
during a "duel" of rhythmic exchanges. There
were some lighter moments too, when John McLaughlin
reminisced on how much he missed the city of Chennai
and its wonderful people, and that he hoped to be invited
back to the city very soon - not after a gap of 18 years
which was the time between his last visit and now!
The
whole group of John McLaughlin, Zakhir Hussain, U.Srinivas,
Selvaganesh, Vinayakaram and A.K.Palanivel came on to
the stage together at the end of the concert to thank
the very sporting and appreciative (and lucky) 1600
strong Chennai audience, and walked out to a thunderous
five minute long standing ovation.
Three
hours of soulful music. It truly was an unforgettable
evening.
E-zine
Home
Huge
crowds. Long queues, waiting to enter. Policemen trying
to get the crowd in order. Roads blocked by what seems
like zillion vehicles, trying to find a spot to park.
These are the scenes that you would usually associate
with an India vs. Pakistan cricket war at the M.A.Chidambaram
stadium, Chepauk. But the venue was the Music Academy,
T.T.K Road. There was no Sachin Tendulkar, nor was there
Shoaib Akthar. So what was the whole thing about? It was
all about Remembering Shakti.