Remember Shakti is a quintet which combines elements of traditional Indian music with elements of jazz. The band consists of English guitarist John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain (tabla), U. Srinivas (mandolin), Shankar Mahadevan (vocals), and V. Selvaganesh (kanjira, ghatam, mridangam), who are all of Indian descent. The band's name is derived from John Mclaughlin's acoustic Indian fusion band Shakti which was active in the 1970s. This band consisted of John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, L. Shankar, T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram, and R. Raghavan. The word "Shakti" translates in Sanskrit to "female creative power" or "goddess."

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Biography

After disbanding in the late 1970s, Shakti enjoyed a twenty-year hiatus before McLaughlin and Hussain decided to reform the band. In addition to John and Zakir, T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram (ghatam, mridangam), returned for Remember Shakti's eponymous debut album in 1997. However, McLaughlin could not locate Shakti's fourth member, violinist L. Shankar, and replaced him with bansuri player Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia for the live recording of this album.

For the band's next album, The Believer , recorded live and released in 1999, Chaurasia and Vinayakram were replaced by mandolin player U. Srinivas and Vinayakram's son V. Selvaganesh. The band's most recent live album, 2001's Saturday Night in Bombay , presents Remember Shakti augmented by an army of guests, notably Pt. Shivkumar Sharma (santoor), percussionist Taufiq Qureshi who is the brother of Zakir, and Shankar Mahadevan, who has now become Remember Shakti's fulltime vocalist. The band has toured extensively all around the world.

Trivia

• Remember Shakti, just like John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, is extremely multinational, and multigenerational. McLaughlin was born in the United Kingdom, and is of Scottish descent, Zakir Hussain hails from North India, while U. Srinivas, Shankar Mahadevan, and V. Selvaganesh all hail from South India. McLaughlin is in his 60s, Hussain is in his 50s, and Srinivas, Mahadevan, and Selvaganesh are all in their 30s.

Discography

Full Length Albums

• Remember Shakti (1999)- Universal Records
• The Believer (2000)- Universal Records
• Saturday Night in Bombay (2001)- Universal Records
• Live at 38th Montreux Jazz Festival , 18 July, 2004
• Live at Miles Davis Hall , 8 July, 2004 (Disk 16 from the John McLaughlin Montreux Concerts Box Set)

DVDs/Videos

• The Way of Beauty directed by Partho Sen-Gupta (2006)- Universal Music France 983 762 6 .LC 00699

This DVD features a 60 minute documentary (Shakti Timeless) on the band starting from the early seventies. John and Zakir speak about their beginnings, their era with L. Shankar and T.H. Vinayakram. The film was screened at the Durban International Film Festival 2007 from the 20th June to the 1st July 2007 in Durban, South Africa.

The DVD also includes: #45 minutes of sound check footage of Remember Shakti before a Concert at the New Morning in Paris 2004 # 55 minutes of a historic concert called Saturday Night in Bombay (Mumbai, India) in 2000. # Two Live Concerts of the band shot with the original band (with L. Shankar & "Vikku" T. H Vinayakram from 1976 (Montreux Jazz Festival) as well as Montreux Jazz 2004. # Also contains clips from Mahavishnu Orchestra in Syracuse, U.S 1972. (Never seen before)

Box Sets

• Remember Shakti (2002)- Universal Records- (Includes Remember Shakti, The Believer, Saturday Night in Bombay, bonus DVD performance of Saturday Night in Bombay, and bonus track Niyati.)