The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A live jam to remember

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 14, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

A live jam to remember

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: Conversations on a cold December night would best describe the performance by Remember Shakti. Keeping with the spirit of the original act, the quartet of Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, U. Shrinivas and V. Selvaganesh set the tone for the evening with an impromptu jam titled "Five In The Morning, Six In The Afternoon."

Remember Shakti is a follow-up of the hugely successful Shakti, which in the 70s featured violinist L. Shankar and ghatam exponent Vikku Vinayakaram in the place of Shrinivas and Selvaganesh. They performed last in Bangalore in January 2005 and on Wednesday it was a stop in the city as part of their current India tour. Their music is based on the concept of a live jam and that was very much emphasised in their performance. A marker is set by each musician and then follows a lively "jugalbandi" that is complemented by very vocal appreciation of each other's talents. There was a surprise in store when Shashank replaced mandolin Shrinivas for the second number "Ma No Pa", which is a composition by Hussain. But the number was ruined by some poor acoustics with Shashank often not being heard by the audience, and Hussain and McLaughlin made it a point to take a dig at the sound afterwards.

Shankar Mahadevan was the vocal component of the band and he came up for the Saint Thyagaraja composition in the Bangala raga, "Giriraja Sudha". Though the number relies strongly on the vocals, one cannot miss the contribution of the imperious Shrinivas. The band then went on to perform "Sakhi", a tumri with a north Indian semi-classical flavour. A mention must be made of Selvaganesh whose percussion with the khanjira, ghatam and mridangam was magnificent.

Of course, no concert of Remember Shakti is complete without a trip down memory lane to the compositions that made them a household name the world over. There was "La Danse Du Bonheur", which began with a bit of vocal sparring between Hussain and Selvaganesh. Then there was "Lotus Feet" from their very first album and "Five Piece Band." The numbers though retaining their original structure, have been metamorphosed to suit the talents of Shrinivas, who replaced the violin of Shankar.

It was not an evening to forget for fans, who probably went back home hoping that they get to see the original Shakti, regroup, sometime the near future.

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