Co-Founders John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain Lead Current Lineup On
First U.S. Tour In 18 Years
With Special Guest Bela Fleck<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following word of the Summer 2023 release of This Moment<\/em> \u2013 their first new studio album in 46 years \u2013 revolutionary world music ensemble Shakti will continue to discover and explore the musical common ground bridging East and West on an extensive U.S. tour, beginning August 17 in Boston. Born in the mid-1970s out of the deep artistic and spiritual connection bonding British guitarist John McLaughlin and Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain, Shakti\u2019s cross-cultural musical conversation dissolved boundaries with uncommon passion, grace, and dexterity \u2013 awakening subsequent generations of musicians to the possibilities of such hybrids in the process. Alongside McLaughlin and Hussain, today\u2019s Shakti features vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, and percussionist SelvaganeshVinayakram (son of original Shakti ghatam player T.H. \u201cVikku\u201d Vinayakram).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking ahead to the performances, McLaughlin equates the endeavor to a homecoming of sorts. \u201cShakti was born in the USA in 1973,\u201d he reflects, \u201cand is also no stranger to American audiences. We\u2019ve played concerts all over the US from coast to coast and north to south \u2013 and everywhere we\u2019ve played, we\u2019ve had wonderful audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joining Shakti on more than half of the dates will be another performer dedicated to intermingling and transcending genres, B\u00e9la Fleck, who will open the performances with a solo set and will then join forces with Shakti later each evening. \u201cHearing Shakti was a revelation and I started listening right when they started,\u201d Fleck recalls. \u201cSomething about Shakti, and also making music with Zakir, was very relatable \u2013 perhaps akin to the acoustic guitar and fiddle. But it wasn\u2019t until playing with Zakir and Edgar Meyer [on 2009\u2019s Melody of Rhythm: Triple Concerto & Music for Trio<\/em>] that I started having more of a sense of what they were up to. Keeping in mind the virtuosic and energetic level of the band, I\u2019ll be attempting to create a solo set that mesmerizes and excites.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cB\u00e9la is a truly fine musician and one I have admired for decades,\u201d McLaughlin says. \u201cIn addition, B\u00e9la has toured and recorded with Zakir Hussain and is no stranger to the musical culture of India.\u201d McLaughlin and Fleck have only shared the stage once before \u2013 during a Chick Corea birthday show at the Blue Note in New York \u2013 making these upcoming collaborations a thrilling proposition for both audiences and performers alike. Shakti will also be joined by John Scofield or Bill Frisell on select shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the recording of their new studio album now complete, the members of Shakti now await the opportunity to continue their pan-global dialogue. \u201cIn our initial incarnation,\u201d Zakir Hussain concludes, \u201cwe did not always have the time nor the means to explore. Now, with the decades of individual musical experiences we all have poured into this, the result reveals an extraordinary depth and level of interaction within this band.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Co-Founders John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain Lead Current Lineup OnFirst U.S. Tour In 18 YearsWith Special Guest Bela Fleck Following<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":524,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[26,30,23,19,25,22,21,27,29,20],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n