@@nicksobekmusicGrowing up listening to quite a lot of Joe Pass' recordings and being from the country of Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen (which means a lot of jazz in the radio and TV) makes it easy to relate to JM's plying/picking style. Considering the Indian rythm section they're just great musicians with an elevated understanding of rythm. Yes, Zakir Hussain has established his name in the West. But Vikku Vinayakram (The God of Ghatam) is just as good as ZH. Take that from a drummer and guitarist.
Just to be clear, this is from the album Remember Shakti, the first Remember Shakti album recorded live in concert. This was before the late incredible Mandolin Srinivas joined the group for the next two albums, Saturday Night in Bombay and The Believer. In my humble opinion, this song is one of the most beautiful by McL or anyone else. There's another version on McL's The Promise album and another stunning beautiful version by Lucas Pickford and Steve Hunt on one of the Mahavishnu tribute albums.
We don't dismiss him! He's just above most peoples comprehension, Myself included. I've been following Him since 1972. Have had the honor and privilege to see Him four times. Once with the original Shakti, next with the incredible Woodrow"Sonship" Theus, and twice with Trilok Gurtu. Was, and am still always amazed at how He keeps pushing the music envelope. Here's hoping He keeps trailblazing for all of us mere mortals for many years to come. To be "lucky" enough to be alive at this time and space and sharing the planet with Him is incredible to Me as a person and musician. From what I've read and listened to, as in interviews, He's an incredible human being, flawed as we all are, but continuing to strive , grow, and evolve. If only we all had but a fraction of this man's outlook on life and music, the world would be an incredibly much better place. Can't say enough, but I'll stop now.
Since "Birds Of Fire"? If so, the same here. Before that Joe Pass was the favourite. Saw him a couple of times with Mahavishnu Orchestra and once with Paco De Lucia and Al diMeola and once with Trilok Gurtu and Kai Eckhardt.
I tend to agree. It has an amazing feel to it. I saw this version of the band in Birmingham UK around 1998/9. An amazing experience which I will never forget.
If there is a god, then this is surely her music (along with the complete works of JS Bach, of course). Play this at my wake, with the lights out and everyone lying on their backs, and I'll be there, for sure …
Thats why Remeber Shakti came about again! They still play live. People take a long time to evolve to absorb this music. Perhaps Man hasnt evolved enough to be ready mostly?
They made a grp remember Shakti. John, zakir, selvaganesh, shankar mahadevan and U srinivas. This grp was active til 2014. But after sad demise of U srinivas they stopped touring. Just 3 days ago, they have again started performing. This time violin player ganesh Rajgopalan have taken the place of great U srinivas.
Because each of these musicians is unique. There's only one John Mac. Likewise only one Zakir, one Selvaganesh, one Vikku, one Chaurasia. These combinations only happen once, if we're lucky It isn't just the music they're making now that makes them special. It's the history of each musician, and how that informs the sound they make. And there are very few musicians out there with a history like John McLaughlin.
