āThereās something profoundly joyful about Shakti and the spontaneity of it,ā says guitarist John McLaughlin, seen here with the group at the beginning of their 50th-anniversary celebrations.
The intrepid guitarist celebrates his long collaboration with master percussionist Zakir Hussain and reflects on the groundbreaking cross-cultural fusion group, his longest running ensemble, and their new studio record, This Moment.
A few years ago, John McLaughlinās career hung in the balance. Stricken with painful arthritis in his right hand, the famously dexterous and ambitious guitarist couldnāt maintain his playing. So, he announced his retirement from live performing, offering a final tour in 2017. In Billboard, the guitarist glumly mused: āYou know, musicians never die. They just decompose. So, Iām on my way.ā Though he went on to mention planned recording projects, he now says, āI thought, āTimeās up,ā the guitar goes under the bed, and thatās it. Iām out.ā
āIt was not to be,ā he now says from his home in Monaco. McLaughlin found his remedy in the teachings of Dr. Joe Dispenza, an American chiropractor, teacher, and best-selling author. The guitarist tuned into Dispenzaās YouTube videos and found āa wonderful technique that incorporates meditationā in lieu of medication. āSince Iāve been meditating since the 1960s,ā he explains, āI incorporated this technique every morning.ā
Within six to eight months, the pain of McLaughlinās arthritis was gone. āItās amazing,ā he says. āI still do it, except I do it not just to my hands, I do it to my whole body.ā By 2019, McLaughlin was back on the road, and the records kept coming, too. In 2020, he released Is That So?āco-led with vocalist Shankar Mahadevan and percussionist Zakir Hussaināand his pandemic effort, Liberation Time, came out in 2021.
āI could not believe what I was seeing, hearing. It was like on Star Trek where youād be instantly teleported to another planet. Another universe. Molecules taken apart and put back together.ā āBill Frisell on Shakti
McLaughlin has now turned his renewed abilities to his longest running ensemble, Shakti, whose fusion of North and South Indian classical styles together with his intrepid guitar playing broke new ground in the ā70s, helping to create a template for cross-cultural collaborations. The band continue to stand in a class of their own. āAbout 18, 20 months ago,ā McLaughlin said this summer, āI wrote to everyone and said, āLetās record something before itās too late.āā
Shakti looks much different than when he first assembled the ensemble as a vehicle to work with master percussionist Hussain. Together, they are the two remaining original members, and they are now joined by Mahadevan as well as violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram, who is the son of Vikku Vinayakram, the group's percussionist during the '70s.
Shakti has naturally evolved throughout their span, but the inventive, collaborative spirit of the ensemble remains. With the release of This Moment earlier this year, the guitarist is reflecting on the evolution of the ensemble.
John McLaughlin with his doubleneck PRS on the 2017 tour that would not, in fact, be his last.
Photo by Alessio Belloni
Ā John McLaughlinās Gear
Guitars
- PRS McCarty Violin model
- Abraham Wechter nylon-string acoustic
Effects
- Hermida Audio Zendrive 2
- Sony DPS-M7
- Seymour Duncan SFX-03 Twin Tube Classic
Strings & Picks
- DāAddario strings
- Jim Dunlop Jazz III Picks
First Run
McLaughlin says he became āenchantedā with Indian classical music in 1969. During this period, he was living in New York and playing with Miles Davis, and he began studying North Indian flute. āI donāt play flute,ā he explains, ābut it was really to learn some of the theory, some of the ragas, and to try to understand the rhythmic concepts that they used.ā That same year, he met Zakir Hussain, and the two musicians became friends.
It wasnāt until 1972, though, that McLaughlin and Hussain would play together. During a visit with master sarod player Ali Akbar Khan at his school in Northern California where Hussain was teaching, the two had an auspicious impromptu musical meeting. āBeing young and reckless,ā the guitarist recalls, āI just happened to have an acoustic guitar and Zakir had a tabla. After dinner, we decided to sit in front of the great Ali Akbar Khan and play something.ā
He continues, āZakir Hussain is one of those rare musicians who are just instantly inspiring and are just masterly players. Within the first 10 seconds, Iām saying, āI have to work with this guy somehow.āā When they were done, McLaughlin recalls that Hussain shared the feeling.
āI could not believe what I was seeing, hearing. It was like on Star Trek where youād be instantly teleported to another planet. Another universe. Molecules taken apart and put back together.ā āBill Frisell on Shakti
Shakti in New Yorkās Central Park in 2001, left to right: Zakir Hussain, U. Shrinivas, John McLaughlin, and Selvaganesh Vinayakram.
Photo by Ebet Roberts
Frisell remembers his reaction: āWhat was this?! I could not believe what I was seeing, hearing. It was like on Star Trek where youād be instantly teleported to another planet. Another universe. Molecules taken apart and put back together. You find yourself in another world. A whole new world. John McLaughlin had already done this to me a few times before with Tony Williams, Miles, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Now this! Everything changes.ā
Over time, Frisell points out, the bandās effect on him was profound, helping to inspire him to discover his own maverick voice. āA couple years later, I heard Shakti live for the first time at a concert in Boston. It was so overwhelming. There was a moment then where I thought I should stop playing. This was too much. Impossible. Thereās no way. This is too big.ā
Instead, he found a bigger message in the music. āI thought, āI love music so much. Music is beautiful,āā he says. āWhatever I can do with whatever it is Iāve got, Iām going to try as best I can to make something out of it. Maybe I canāt do what they are doing, but Iām going to find a way to do something. Music is big enough for everyone. Infinite. We all find our own way. Our own voice.ā
āThat dang McLaughlin would certainly and regularly put all of us in our place.ā āBĆ©la Fleck
John McLaughlin & Shakti "Joy" (Live Montreux 1976)
In 1976, the group released their debut, Shakti with John McLaughlinānow with South Indian percussionist Vikku Vinayakramāwhich to this day will test the limits of what an uninitiated listener might consider possible on an acoustic guitar. On the album, Shakti offers a dazzling display of rhythmic and melodic technicality that set them apart from their electric peers in the fusion scene.
āI can still remember hearing that first Shakti record and instantly feeling the connection to the music that I was getting involved into,ā reminisces BĆ©la Fleck. The innovative banjo player and fellow Zakir Hussain collaborator was also tapped to join Shakti on their 50th-anniversary tour. āIt was just such a shocking revelation that it could go in that direction. Everything about it had amazing personality, life, joy, and intensity.ā
Fleck, who has carved his own niche as a figurehead of acoustic fusion, recalls that Shaktiās debut āseemed like an alternate world, but one somehow related to our burgeoning progressive bluegrass scene. I know it provided inspiration to many of my peers and heroes. But that dang McLaughlin would certainly and regularly put all of us in our place. No one could aspire to that level of ability and thought in our acoustic world!ā
At the time of their debut, McLaughlin was using a large-bodied guitar built by legendary luthier Mark Whitebook, who also built instruments for artists such as James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. By this point, heād discontinued his veena studyā āI donāt have enough talent to master two instruments in one life,ā McLaughlin admits. āSo, I went to my guru one day and I said I have to quit the veena [and focus on guitar] because thatās how I eat, thatās how I pay my rent, and Iām not able to handle both at once. And he was very understanding of that.ā
The veena, McLaughlin explains, āhas giant frets with space underneath. The bending is marvelous.ā He sought to recreate that technique on an acoustic guitar with scalloped frets. After conferring with Ali Akbar Khan about adding drone strings to his instrument, McLaughlin and luthier Abraham Wechter, working for Gibson at the time, brought those ideas to life, creating a customized J-200 with scalloped frets and a set of seven drone strings underneath the main strings, which the guitarist played with a fingerpick he wore on his pinky.
While theyāve released a wealth of live recordings in the meantime, This Moment is Shaktiās first studio recording since the late ā70s.
That guitar can be heard on Shaktiās subsequent pair of ambitious studio recordings, A Handful of Beauty and Natural Elements. If it seemed as though the group was just getting started, it sadly wasnāt to last. āAround 1978, Vikku had to return to India to run the Academy of Percussion his father had founded,ā McLaughlin explains. āWe finished our concert obligations with another South Indian percussionist, but we missed Vikku very much, and Shakti went to the back burner for a while.ā
Remember Shakti
While McLaughlin and Hussain continued to collaborate, it wasnāt until the late ā90s, when the percussionist received an invitation for the group to do a series of concerts, that Shakti returned. At some point, though, the guitarist had lent out his Whitebook and Wechter steel-strings. āWhen I called the people Iād loaned the Shakti guitars to,ā he regretfully recalls, āthey both came back broken. So, here we have a tour coming up and the guitars were unplayable.ā (He adds, āIāve given them away to people to hang on the wall. Theyāre just decoration now. Itās really a shame.ā)
Without either of his acoustic guitars from the earlier incarnation of the group, McLaughlin decided he would go electric. For this reinvigorated version of the groupāwhich would be dubbed āRemember Shaktiā on a series of live recordings, starting with 1999ās self-titled release, though McLaughlin considers it all to be Shaktiāhe first called upon a Gibson ES-345 with a scalloped fretboard, though he used other guitars as well in this period.
Going electric helped usher in a new sound for the band. āWhat I wanted and what I got from the electric guitar was the sustaināto be able to play a chord and to hold,ā McLaughlin explains. He adds, āIām the harmony department in the band, and Iām bending the rules because, basically, in Indian music, thereās no harmony.ā
āIām the harmony department in the band, and Iām bending the rules because basically, in Indian music, thereās no harmony.ā āJohn McLaughlin
Remember Shakti - Live at Jazz a Vienne
In 1998, McLaughlin and Hussain invited electric mandolin virtuoso U. Shrinivas (often spelled Srinivas) to join Shakti. āIād seen him when he was only 14 and he was already a killer,ā McLaughlin recalls. (By the time he joined the band, Shrinivas was in his late 20s.) He continues, āThe electric guitar and electric mandolin work beautifully together. I was really happy about that. We had a sound together that really worked.ā Indeed, the two had a musical hookup so sympathetic that it can be easy to mistake one for the other on these recordings. Listen to the masterfully navigated high-paced musical twists and turns of āMaya,ā Shrinivasā composition from The Believer, to hear just how connected the ensemble had become.
In 2014, Shrinivas passed, and McLaughlin and his bandmates were distraught. Losing a member of the ensemble once again closed a chapter for the group. āWe lost it for a while,ā he says.
Shakti 2023 (left to right): Zakir Hussain, Ganesh Rajagopalan, Shankar Mahadevan, John McLaughlin, and Selvaganesh Vinayakram.
Photo by Pepe Gomes
The Return
Now about a half century on, Shakti is back. McLaughlin explains that the band has always been geographically challengedāfor the current lineup, Hussain is based in Northern California, vocalist Shankar Mahadevan in Northern India, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan in Seattle, and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram lives in South India. Getting everyone together simply became too difficult, which is why, he says, they havenāt recorded a studio album since the ā70s. But technology has caught up to their predicament, and the group was able to do a hybrid of live and remote sessions in order to create This Moment.
While the Shakti recordings of the 1970s were energetic, blazing sessions, the musical breathing room has continued to grow since the Remember Shakti period. That has much to do with the compositions, arrangements, and performances, but itās also easy, when comparing This Moment to the original recordings especially, to attribute that space in part to McLaughlinās long shift away from the plucky, percussive acoustic playing toward developing a softer electric tone.
McLaughlin has gone through many instruments over the course of his careerācounting among them, in addition to his Shakti guitars, his iconic Gibson double-neck, a Gibson Johnny Smith, and a Wechter nylon-string. Most recently, heās been using a PRS. āI got my first PRS maybe 20 years ago from Paul. What a beautiful instrument,ā he remarks. McLaughlin owns several of Smithās guitars, but itās his black-gold McCarty Violin model he turns to most frequently. And itās that instrument that is primarily heard on This Moment.PRSā new Private Stock John McLaughlin Limited Edition Signature Model features a maple top, mahogany back, hormigo neck, and African blackwood fretboard, plus some special electronic additions.
The builder is now paying tribute to McLaughlin with the Private Stock John McLaughlin Limited Edition Signature Model. Limited to just 200 instruments, itās an exquisite, detailed high-end solidbody. Featuring a maple top, mahogany back, hormigo neck, and African blackwood fretboard, the body has a high-gloss nitro finish, while the neck has only a clear grain filler. For electronics, Smith chose TCI pickups with volume and tone controls and a 3-way, plus two mini-toggles that act as high-pass filters.
āJohn McLaughlin is one of the geniuses of our business,ā says Smith. āHe was at the forefront of inventing an entire genre of music called jazz rock. Heās an extraordinary musician, guitarist, and songwriter. Itās an honor to be involved with such a person.ā
As on much of his work in recent years, McLaughlin favors a soft, dark, and spacious, clean tone from his PRS for This Moment. On many of the songsāthe driving multi-meter pulse of opener āShriniās Dream,ā the waltz-like mid-tempo āMohanam,ā and the bouncy āLas Palmasāāhis simple diatonic chords create the center of gravity around which the ensemble work their magic. Donāt dismay, weāre still treated to plenty of high-speed McLaughlin picking throughout. But those moments give way to more sensitive ensemble interaction, which is at the forefront.
If the original trio of Shakti recordings at times feels as though the players were pushing each other to their breathtaking limits, then This Moment finds McLaughlin and Hussain warmly holding the door for each other and their collaborators. Tellingly, on āBending the Rules,ā which finds McLaughlin taking a knotty solo, his most notable playing comes as he joins Mahadevanās expressive vocal melody, capturing the nuances in riveting unison.
āThereās something profoundly joyful about Shakti and the spontaneity of it,ā McLaughlin shares as he considers the ensembleās long history. āThis experience I had with Zakir in 1972 is still as valid today as it was 50 years ago. Which is, I think, the simple reason why Shakti is still together, although weāve evolved and weāre the only two original members.ā
When he talks about Shakti, McLaughlin repeatedly calls the members family and talks about their personal bond that extends as deeply as their musical one. Reflecting, he says, āLove, really, is what makes things work in the end, isnāt it?ā he says. āIf the love is not there, especially in music, you might as well be a lawyer or an accountant.ā
YouTube It
Shakti performs an epic two-plus hour live set in Kolkata in January 2023, at the beginning of their 50th-anniversary celebrations, with a setlist culled from their entire history.