Shakti
Colston Hall - Bristol
It's not every day that a band containing Miles Davis' former guitarist treats you to the first ever public performance of a piece that was written that very afternoon. But this is exactly what happened at the stunning Shakti concert in Bristol's Colston Hall on Saturday night. The first half of the show consisted of several old favourites, all executed with the usual baffling precision and togetherness, but we got the new song shortly after the interval. (I like concerts with intervals. Why can't all acts do this?) While John McLaughlin smiled on in his usual benign way, Zakir Hussain - surely the world's greatest percussionist - introduced the piece, which he called something like 'John_@uk.com'. (For all their endless brilliance, Shakti have never been too good at coming up with titles. Still, it's a bit snappier than the old classic 'What Need Have I for This, What Need Have I For That, I Am Dancing at the Feet of my Lord, All is Bliss, All is Bliss) The band then launched into an incredibly (and typically) intricate piece ... but they played it perfectly. I'm still at a loss to describe how well these people improvise together. The band, whether in its four- or five-piece incarnation, really is like an organic creature that instinctively knows what each part of its body is about to do. The improvised four-way call-and-response section of one of the pieces in the second half was simply beyond comprehension. The only truly depressing thing about seeing John McLaughlin play live, though, is realizing just how inadequate your own guitar skills are.
3rd Apr 2006 - Tumblr
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