Jazz / World Fusion
Recorded and mixed: Trident Studios, London, England August 1976
Dennis MacKay Engineer
John McLaughlin Guitar (Acoustic), Arranger, Group Member, Guitar, Producer
Lakshminarayana Shankar Violin, Vocals, Arranger, Group Member
Richard Laird Photography
Steven Berkowitz Assistant
Vikku Vinayakram Percussion, Vocals
Zakir Hussain Tabla, Percussion, Group Member
Reissue of 1977 album by legendary jazz-rock guitarist McLaughlin with his world music group Shakti, the second of three records he cut with them.
Shakti headed for the safer confines of a London recording studio on its second album, minus R. Raghavan and minus some of the volatile energy that they generated on their debut record. They were, however, a more integrated, more subtle ensemble now, exploring quieter, more lyrical corners of their East-West fusion, with L. Shankar's spectacular violin and Zakir Hussain's tabla taking the solo foreground as much as, if not more than, McLaughlin's acoustic guitar. With the exception of an arrangement of a traditional South Indian piece "Kriti," McLaughlin and Shankar contribute all of the compositions, which lean even more heavily toward South Indian music with reminders of McLaughlin's Western roots. As a whole, this is less accessible to McLaughlin's jazz-rock flock than the first Shakti album, but still fascinating for contemporary listeners with a yen for world music, as well as curious stragglers from the classical Indian world dominated by Ravi Shankar (another indefatigable champion of East-West fusions). ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide |
