| After
disbanding in the late 1970s, Shakti enjoyed a 25 year hiatus before
McLaughlin and Hussain decided to reform the band. In addition to
John and Zakir, T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram (ghatam, mridangam),
returned for Remember Shakti's eponymous debut album in 1997.
However, McLaughlin could not locate Shakti's fourth member, violinist
L. Shankar, and replaced him with bansuri player Pt. Hariprasad
Chaurasia for the live recording of this album.
For the band's next album, The Believer, recorded live and released
in 1999, Chaurasia and Vinayakram were replaced in lieu of mandolin
player U. Srinivas, and Vinayakram's son V. Selvaganesh. The band's
most recent live album, 2001's Saturday Night in Bombay, presents
Remember Shakti augmented by an army of guests, notably Pt. Shivkumar
Sharma (santoor), percussionist Taufiq Qureshi who is the brother
of Zakir, and Shankar Mahadevan, who has now become Remember Shakti's
fulltime vocalist. The band has toured extensively all around the
world. |