Search - John McLaughlin, Shakti :: Remember Shakti (Dlx Ltd Ed) (Bonus CD & DVD)

Great unreleaed material and DVD of Shakti

L. Rosenbaum | Fremont, Ca United States | 04/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD box set contains the first three Remember Shakti CDs that were recorded for Verve. The first three CDs are "Remember Shakti," "The Believer," and "Saturday Night in Bombay" (all live material.) The bonus material includes one CD containing one extended track called "Niyati" (40 min.) from the Saturday Night in Bombay concert. The set also includes a DVD video containing three tracks from the Saturday Night in Bombay concert. Six discs in all in a satin box with the Shakti name embroidered on the front.The track listing is:"Remember Shakti"Disc: 1
1. Chandrakauns
2. The Wish
3. Lotus FeelDisc: 2
1. Mukti
2. Zakir"The Believer"1. 5 in the Morning, 6 in the Afternoon
2. Ma No Pa
3. Lotus Feet
4. Naya
5. Anna
6. Finding the Way

"Saturday Night in Bombay"1. Luki
2. Shringar
3. Giriraj Sudha
4. Bell'AllaBonus CD "Niyati" from the Saturday Night in Bombay concert (40 min.)1. Niyati Bonus DVD "Saturday Night in Bombay" (56 min.)1. Giriraj Sudha
2. Shringar
3. Bell'AllaHaving seen Shakti during the "The Believer" tour in Oakland, CA getting a DVD of a performance especially this historical performance is great. Unfortunately the production quality is not the best. There are several cameras used, one is black and white. Sometimes the video quality is fuzzy and out of focus. The angles are usually pretty good and aimed at the soloist so you can see his playing and best of all, his expressions to the others. But, of course, beggars can't be choosers when this is the only DVD available to date of Shakti. The extra track on CD5 is amazing. I only wish that the rest of the concert was also included. (I'm sure that there was more to it than what is presented on these two CDs totaling only 102 minutes, not quite full concert length.) The set contains a small foldout booklet that contains great photographs and essays by McLaughlin and Hussain about the importance of Shakti to them and to the music world in general. These were not included with the original packages.Overall this is a great compendium of the group's ventures from '96-2000. It is a great set to have in your collection."

Collection of stunning music.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 04/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This boxed set collects the three Remember Shakti releases-- "Remember Shakti", "The Believer", and "Saturday Night in Bombay" along with a bonus disc containing an unreleased performance from the Bombay show and about an hour of video footage from that performance.



I'll discuss the packaging first-- the box is wrapped in silk cloth, with a pull cord to remove the CDs. Each CD is held in a gatefold envelope reproducing the original artwork-- both the self-titled release (a double album) and the bonus material are housed in double envelopes. Additionally, a small set of liner notes with short essays by Zakir Hussain and John McLaughlin are present (and never before included). My complaint-- the gatefold cases don't come with any sort of protection around the disc (i.e. a plastic sleeve). Once you've been burned by these things, you learn to dislike them, but this is a small complaint, I used my own sleeves with the artwork with no problem.



The music-- there's essentially two Remember Shakti formations, guitarist John McLaughlin and tabla master Zakir Hussain are the core and are joined (on "Remember Shakti") by T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram (ghatam, and Indian drum) and Hariprasad Chaurasia (bansuri flute). Vinayakram played with the original Shakti band. On the remainder of the material, electric mandolin virtuoso U. Shrinivas and percussionist V. Selvaganesh (son of Vinayakram) play, and on the Bombay recordings, the band is augmented by various other musicians.



The first formation performed music of a delicate beauty-- quiet, moody, wonderous performances that didn't burn but still provided a stunning backdrop to show the talents of its members-- on the "Remember Shakti" set, the haunting guitar feature "Lotus Feet" shows how well these musicians play together and the extended cuts have a remarkable ability to sustain interest, even when space and development are the most important qualities in the music.



The second formation burned a lot hotter-- with Shrinivas on mandolin, McLaughlin had a foil who could keep pace on a stringed instrument, look no far than "The Believer" opener ("5 in the Morning, 6 in the Afternoon") to see how hot these two could get, or for that matter Shrinivas' "Maya" and McLaughlin's "Anna" for subtlety, twisting string lines and brilliant playing. But this was a group with a number of faces, another reading of "Lotus Feet" moves the melody to the mandolin and frees McLaughlin to really dig in deep into the mood and introspection of the peice, and percussion feature "Finding the Way" shows that Selvaganesh can easily match wits with the tabla maestro who sat across from him at the shows.



The Bombay material is a bit less interesting to me, because of the presence of seemingly endless guests, the music is a lot looser, the band is less familiar. Mind you, there's still some stunning moments, opener "Luki" features eleven musicians and is an exercise in leaving room and density and certainly "Giriraj Sudha" stands against the best of the Remember Shakti material, not a little bit thanks to the great vocals of Shankar Mahadevan.



The bonus CD is spectacular, a lengthy cut from Bombay featuring an expanded lineup, like much of the Bombay show is a lot looser, but it works better with its extended form and have some great percussion playing. The DVD is a bit less interesting, the footage quality isn't superb (although its certainly passable), the performance is three songs from the "Saturday Night at Bombay" show, and it is the only DVD release of this band.



Overall, this set is a superb value, and well worth the investment for the fans. I so deeply loved this music that even owning all three albums before the set came out, I purchased this anyway. Essential music from masters of their craft."