Mar 10, 2003 12:43 PM
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(Updated Mar 10, 2003 12:48 PM)
Disclaimer: This review is of Shakti s Concert in Mumbai of which John is a part.. & since I did not find a relevant head I am posting the same here...Regrets for those who dont like this funda...
The day was 10 days prior to Valentines day – 4th of Feb and there were four burglars on the prowl in Crisilhouse (thats my office), scheming to slip away … and before you get any ideas folks it was to watch “ Shakti ” …. No folks this is not the Karishma – Shahrukh starer with Aish dancing to the tune of Ishq Kameena. Most fusion freaks will know this group. Lotus Feet – their smash hit single was on top of the fusion music charts fore a long time. The violin maestro L Shankar conceptualized this 1970s group where he roped in jazz artist John McLaughlin & some renowned Indian classical artists like Ustad Zakir Husain and Ghatam king Viku Vinayakram. However just two of the awesome four i.e. John & Zakir Husain were there to entertain the Mumbai crowd at Rang Bhavan, which was absolutely chalk a block. Joining in this marvelous musical mystic adventure were the other performers , Selvaganesh the percussionist & U Srinivas the mandolin maestro who mesmerized the crowd with their skill. To enhance this already star studded show Shankar Mahadevan exercised his vocal chords with some breath taking performance. Selvaganesh was playing the kanjira, mridangum & the ghatam whilst Zakir Husain was skillfully extracting the best from the tabla, the drums & bongo. What was best about these two was that it seemed like a playful adventure with the instruments in perfect Sur & Taal i.e. Rhythm.
They played some of their most liked compositions viz Niyati, Finding the way, Maya, Giriraja Sudha & the Believer. Giriraja Sudha is a classical Carnatic song, which was performed by Shankar Mahadevan, which ended with an absolutely awesome jugalbandi. At the climax Zakir & Selvaganesh were an awesome twosome playing like two rivers in tandem with each other finally ending in a perfect sea of music. U Srinivas ‘s performance was awesome, Mandolin delivers a lower tone than that of the conventional Electronic Guitar of John but Srinivas’s performance was far superior to him. Infact John kept loosing the rhythm time & again. Indians totally dominated the performance !!!. The audience was so enthusiastic about the whole extravaganza that they made them play again after they had packed up.
There was just the one blemish during the event. That was a fusion freak drunkard sitting besides me. There was no doubt he was enjoying the concert… the only problem was his individual performance on the seat with additional music and a small jingle here and there did disturb my attentiveness.
3 Days hence and the wonder of this concert still lingered in my mind as I hummed the tunes .. and I am sure thousands who came to watch the concert did the same or probably are still humming away to glory.
