Shakti (band)

Shakti was a group which played a novel acoustic fusion music which combined Indian music with elements of jazz; it was perhaps the earliest practitioner of the musical genre world fusion.

Related Topics:
Musical genre - World fusion

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Its leading member was the English guitar player John McLaughlin, but it also featured the Indian violin player L. Shankar. It also included Zakir Hussain (on tabla), and R. Raghavan and T. S. Vinayakaram (on mridangam).

Related Topics:
Guitar - John McLaughlin - Violin - L. Shankar - Zakir Hussain - Tabla - R. Raghavan - T. S. Vinayakaram - Mridangam

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In addition to fusing Western and Indian music, Shakti also represented a fusion of the Hindustani and Carnatic music traditions, since Hussain is from the North, but the other Indian members are from the South.

Related Topics:
Hindustani - Carnatic music

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It came together in the early 1970s, and toured fairly extensively during the period 1975-1977; it made only sporadic appearances (with personnel changes) thereafter.

Related Topics:
1970s - 1975 - 1977

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Its eponymous first album, Shakti, has had a lasting following.

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McLaughlin later put together another band with the same concept, named Remember Shakti.

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