REMEMBER SHAKTI - SATURDAY NIGHT IN BOMBAY

Remember Shakti? Actually no I don't. This is my first encounter with them. However, I would like to go on record and say that I dig Indian music and I also dig jazz-fusion, so naturally I wanted to hear this Jazz-Fusion-Indian album. Shakti was initially a fusion project between phenomenal jazz guitarist John McLaughlin and some Indian musicians in the 1970s, but disbanded after a few years. Some 20 years later Shakti reunited and one of the results of that reunion is this particular live album. Having not heard their 70s albums I cannot comment on how this compares to those older albums, but I do know that this live album is a pretty fascinating experience. The two tracks I want to point out are Shringar and Bell' Alla. These are both quite exceptional. McLaughlin is really on fire here and plays his guitar as if it was a sitar. Rather convincingly I might add. The other two tracks are non-essential and both feature a vocalist singing in a particular scat style that becomes a little annoying after awhile. I've never been a fan of scat singing personally. This album is not really essential for progheads unless of course they are a little bit curious about jazz-inflected Indian music.