Ghatam exponent Vikku Vinayakram | photo credit: Bhargavi Mani
In 1974, as young musicians eager to change musical discourse, Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, Vikku Vinayakram and L. Shankar launches Shakthi, which stuns the world and takes notice. Fifty years later, three of them managed to do so. In a widely shared video posted last week at the start of the iconic band’s India tour, 80-year-old ghatam exponent Vikku Vinayakram was seen sitting on a sofa with 81-year-old jazz ace John McLaughlin. While 71-year-old tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain sat on the floor on Vikku Vinayakram, who put a hand on the maestro’s shoulder. The trio had fun conversing through Konnakol (recitation of Carnatic percussion syllables), showing how boundaries can be blurred to discover a different language of expression.
look | John McLaughlin, Vikku Vinayakram and Zakir Hussain ahead of Shakti reunion tour
“Power at 50 isn’t just a milestone, it’s a feeling. this is a band that music “Defined by the easy camaraderie and contrasting personalities and musical styles of its members,” says Vikku Vinayakram, relaxing in his home in the bustling narrow lanes of Triplicane in Chennai. He looks tired as he returned late last night from Bengaluru after performing at Spic Macay and Shakti Music Festival.
Original Power Quartet | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“Rhythm has been our only mode of communication since the time we first met. The fourth musician of the Shakti Quartet, violinist L. Except for Shankar, who was a Tamilian, I bonded with John and Zakir only through sign language and sound,” laughs the veteran.
Joining the band as a 33-year-old proved to be a historic moment for both Vikku Vinayakram and Ghatam. This opened up a world of opportunities for modest clay instruments and later generations Uppakkavadyam artist.
“As I gear up to perform in the Mumbai edition of the band’s recent tour, my mind goes back to the day I fly to America with ghatam in hand and fear in my heart to be a part of a challenging cross-genre adventure. had left Experiment, I had no idea about it. I didn’t want to do anything that would harm my art and integrity. When I took the stage in Mumbai that evening, I was happy that I had taken that important step.”
John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan, Ganesh Rajagopalan and V Selvaganesh during the Shakti 2023 India Tour at the Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata. , Photo Credit: ANI
Shakti picked up the lines of collaborative music from where Pt. Ravi Shankar and the Beatles had left off. Since Zakir had grown up watching his inimitable tabla maestro father and guru Ustad Alla Rakha tour the world with Panditji, he knew the way forward. They enlisted John, who led the wildly popular fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra, which had by then disbanded. Plus, John’s inherent love for Indian spirituality and music made him a perfect choice for this East-West project. They brought in Vikku and Shankar for the Carnatic element. This was not a hastily made gimmick-driven set-up. The dynamic four brought to stage and studio (they recorded successful albums) Indian traditional ragas and incredible instrumental skills to create a new improvisational hybrid with Western jazz and blues. It took time for people to warm up to Shakti’s sound, but once they did, there was no stopping the band. While the two string players belted out peppy and peppy tunes, the tabla and ghatam artistes laced it up with a palette of beats. What is simply called fusion is actually a challenging exercise – creating a set of compositions involving non-like-minded composers and unrelated streams of music.
After five years and three albums, Shakti disbanded. But in 1997, Zakir and John decided to start a reunion tour under the name ‘Remember Shakti’. Over the years, the band has had different artists. In this tour, singer Shankar Mahadevan and Kanjira exponent and Vikku’s son Selvaganesh, who was part of ‘Remember Shakti’, along with violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, joined Zakir and John to form a group. a quintet. “I played a few pieces at some concerts. Over the years, Shakti has inspired many multi-cultural groups. It’s a happy result. But what I’ve realized from my many collaborative international tours is that improvisation, Imagination and spontaneity are the driving force of such arrangements. The exchanges are both exciting and terrifying, as you need to hold fast to your tradition while trying to loosen up a bit to engage with new sounds,” says Vikku Vinayakam Are.
Shakti looked deeply across genres to compose intriguing pieces with a universal appeal. Although the four musicians were initially stuck in their own grooves, they soon managed to create space for collective dialogue. Five decades later, Shakthi’s approach to music remains the same – to come up with a sound that defies labels.