THIS MOMENT

Of all the artists releasing albums in the year 2023 including the many masters from the past making a long awaited comeback, the Indo Jazz outfit SHAKTI (formerly with the attached With John McLaughlin) was probably the last artist i would've expected to ever hear from again but lo and behold the band is back some 46 years later after it's last album, the 1977 fiery fusion-fest "Natural Elements." In a way in retrospect it's not terribly shocking as McLaughlin did revive the band under the new moniker Remember Shakti in 1997 and then released three albums culminating with the 2001 grand finale "Saturday Night In Bombay" but to find these power houses of jazz / Indo-rock fusion back in 2023 was quite the surprise.

Now simply known as SHAKTI, the new version of the band features English guitarist, bandleader and composer John McLaughlin along with original member Zakir Hussain on tabla and konnakol. The rest of the gang is new to the original SHAKTI experience however vocalist and konnakol player Shankar Mahadevan from the Remember Shakti is back and ready for action. The band is rounded out by Ganesh Rajgopalan (violin, konnakol) and Selvaganesh Vinayakram (kanjira, mridangam, ghatam, konnakol, composer, producer, arranger) and together they forge their Indo-fusion into the 2020s with a completely new album titled THIS MOMENT. Most notable as a veritable live band with seemingly indefatigable quantities of energetic fortitude, SHAKTI has also embarked on its first tour in quite some time.

THIS MOMENT is about an hour's worth of musical magic with its eight majestic tracks clocking just over the 57-minute mark. Expectedly rooted in its past, THIS MOMENT eschews the traps of trying to live up to its former glories and instead anchors itself firmly into the here and now of the modern era with an impeccable production job and a less frenetic pace which allows the musical performances to exude a wider variety of moods, tones and textures. Noticeably absent is the great Mahavishnu John McLaughlin's virtuosic acoustic guitar bombast which dominated the band's three 70s releases. THIS MOMENT is more contemplative, more reflective and focuses on soft sensual motifs that then erupt into traditional North meets South Indian traditionalism.

In fact the album is shockingly devoid of guitar parts altogether with only the occasional electric guitar prominence of McLaughlin and rather steeped in tabla and vocal trade-offs with the violin providing the pyrotechnic wizardry that McLaughlin once showcased. While the earlier SHAKTI albums focused on the virtuosic possibilities of mixing American jazz with both Southern and Northern Indian traditionalism, THIS MOMENT is more about expanding the musical paradigm and adapts the Indian playing styles to other forms of world ethnic music, the most unexpected coming from the Celtic jig sounding "Las Palmas." The tracks unfold with haunting ambient and atmospheric intros before time signature-rich outbursts of tablas and vocal trade-offs ensue. Given the downplay of the guitar aspects, THIS MOMENT sounds much more like a traditional Indian album than anything in the world of rock music.

If you approach THIS MOMENT from the perspective of it being the album that follows "Natural Elements" with its amazingly wild and untamed frenetic approach, you may be disappointed but after several attentive listens i've found that the magic in THIS MOMENT lies very much in the ancient Buddhist principle of simply being in the "now" of things and approach this album for what it was meant to be within the era it was released. Despite the rather mellowed out approach (as expected due to the aging actors on board), there are still amazing feats of time signature workouts showcasing that all of the musicians on board are more than capable of remaining at the top of their game but the emphasis is more on the expressive changes that offer a greater range than previous works employed. Yeah there are moments where i'm thinking just get on with it already and the album is far from perfect but overall i have found myself loving this album much more than i possible thought i would. Overall a really satisfying SHAKTI album for this late in the game so many decades later.