After a blinding debut album recorded live at an
American college, that more than just successfully melded John McLaughlin’s
lightening fast guitar runs and virtuoso handling with the well-known southern
Indian exoticisms, melodies and rhythms, the group Shakti lost member Ramnad
Raghavan and chose to record in the much more standard environment of a London
studio.
And while losing one member and recording in a much
less spontaneous and energised surrounding, the band here despite these sound
much more united and cohesive, displaying both some highly dramatic moments as
well as more subtle and moving passages too. Better yet, Shankar’s superb
violin is thrust much more into the spotlight and takes up just as much of the
solo space as the guitar. Everyone too overall sounds much more confident and
with greater presence, the effect being much more like that of a group outing
than a backing, if admittedly a spectacular backing, to the more famous
All of the tunes provided are by McLaughlin and Shankar,
with the exception of one lengthy traditional piece, and each seems much more
fused in their joining of East meets West, as well all showcasing a greater
lyrical approach than the earlier eponymous debut.
Despite all this though, it’s perhaps a less welcoming
effort for McLaughlin’s earlier fans from the rock and jazz-rock worlds, with
everything slightly more inward looking and meditative, with the sizzling and furious
energy levels down at least two notches. It’s something else all of its own of
course, although potentially lazily pinned into either of those non-genres labelled
as ‘new age’ or ‘world’, but it is without doubt a distinct and beautiful,
strongly spiritual work that always rewards repeated listens.
****
No comments:
Post a Comment