John McLaughlin with Shakti - John McLaughlin with Shakti

John McLaughlin's Shakti was (and still is) a musical marvel like no other, blending Indian elements with the finest in-the-moment spontaneity of true jazz - and, as per usual for McLaughlin, often doing it at a dizzying pace that borders on the utterly insane. "Joy" lets us know that from the first note, kicking off with a hyper start and never letting up for its entire 18 minutes. John's acoustic guitar trades licks with L. Shankar's violin, one right after another, somehow never letting the lightning pace get in the way of the melody itself. Ahh, that's the remarkable thing about this album - they constantly weave through, over and around the central groove, never slipping into an atonal blizzard of notes but always keeping that tight control.. no matter how fast things get. McLaughlin and Shankar take shorter and shorter turns as the track builds, finally reaching a thunderous release as everyone wails away like mad. If those adjectives sound like an exaggeration for an acoustic string band, then you just haven't experienced this particular adrenaline rush for yourself.

Though the sizzling-hot group interaction stems from the jazz tradition, the compositions and instruments involved are Indian in nature: ghatam, mridangam and tabla form the basis of rhythm (and there's PLENTY of rhythm underpinning everything as well). If you don't quite know what those are, well, they basically stand for a lot of earthy tapping and thumping. They're absent through the quick "Lotus Feet," which basically serves as a peaceful breather before things fire up for the closing half-hour, but they return with a vengeance later on. A sizable portion of "What Need Have I…" gives John and Shankar a chance to catch their breath while the percussion section whips up a heady rhythmic stew all their own.. almost sounding as if there's a whole dance company pounding away rather than just three men. The track overall follows a similar approach to "Joy," but with more of a gradual buildup than a constant frenzy. I'm pretty sure that if they'd tried to keep that pace through another entire tune, half the group would have ended up collapsing onstage. Oh yeah - did I mention that all this stuff is happening live?

For all its head-spinning complexity and incredible virtuosity, this disc is eminently listenable and easily enjoyable by anyone - jazz fan or not, Indian music lover or not, fellow musician or not. If you're the least bit curious about Shakti, start right here.

Tracklist

01 Joy
02 Lotus Feet
03 What Need Have I for this - What Need Have I for that - I Am Dancing at the Feet of my Lord - All Is Bliss-All Is Bliss