'This Moment' - Shakti's first new studio album in more than 45 years - is a work of immense depth and radiant optimism. With John McLaughlin (guitar, guitar synth) and Zakir Hussain (tabla) joined by vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram, the Shakti of now is a powerfully dynamic collective, defined by deft interplay, dazzling unison passages, extraordinarily dexterous improvisations, and the ability to draw from a vast well of global traditions and, miraculously, put them in conversation with one another. As a cornerstone of what is now called World Music, the vision and virtuosity of Shakti has inspired generations of musicians from around the world to explore sonic hybrids once thought impossible. Born of the musical and spiritual brotherhood shared by the revolutionary British guitarist and bandleader John McLaughlin and master Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain, Shakti's soulful, organic intermingling of Eastern and Western musical traditions has proven transformative for both the band's members and its listeners. Fifty years after the informal conversations and jam sessions that sparked the band into existence, their music continues to resonate and evolve. Despite the large gap in their studio discography, Shakti has persisted intermittently over the years as a live proposition, releasing several concert recordings. "Shakti is very much a 'live' band, " explains McLaughlin. "A part of the problem with making a studio recording has always been the fact that we live on different continents, and we all follow our individual careers? in addition to working together in Shakti. 'This Moment' is the result of me calling everyone in the fall of 2021 and persuading them to use today's recording technology to realise it."
Recorded and mixed in the U.S., Monaco, India, and Great Britain, This Moment is nevertheless cohesive, bound by the deeply held bond shared by the players - a bond that is audibly apparent across the album's eight tracks.
