Remember Shakti

A unique collaboration revisited four decades on. The Shakti quintet came into being in 1974-75 when the artistic paths of the English guitarist, John McLaughlin, and celebrated Indian virtuosi including the percussionist, Zakir Hussain, crossed.

The sounds they produced made them a global sensation as they broke new ground in the sphere of world fusion before the term had even been coined! The original combo (guitar, violin and percussion) has given way to today’s line-up of guitar, mandolin, voice and percussion—plus several lifetimes’ worth of accumulated experience. Underlying everything, the shared musical understanding and friendship of John and Zakir, now as then.