This Moment (Shakti album)

2023 studio album by Shakti

This Moment

Studio album by

Shakti

Released| 23 June 2023 (2023-06-23)
Length| 57:00
Label| Abstract Logix
Producer| John McLaughlin
Shakti chronology
| Remember Shakti – Saturday Night in Bombay
(2001)  | This Moment
(2023)  |

|
|

This Moment is the third studio album by world fusion band Shakti. It is the first release under the Shakti name in 46 years, following the 1977 release of Natural Elements.

This Moment features founding member and guitarist John McLaughlin and longtime tabla player/percussionist Zakir Hussain alongside singer Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram. This version of the group embarked on the first Shakti tour in 18 years in support of the record.[1]

The album won the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album.

## Background

[edit]

Although John McLaughlin reformed Shakti as Remember Shakti in 1997 and continued to release albums into the early 2000s, This Moment is the first original recording under the Shakti name in 46 years. McLaughlin stated that "Shakti is very much a 'live' band", which means that recording a studio album together has been an issue due to the members living "on different continents". The album came about after McLaughlin called the members in 2021 and "persuad[ed] them to use today's recording technology to realise it".[2]

## Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
All About Jazz| [3]
AllMusic| [4]

Thom Jurek of AllMusic wrote that "the sound is quite modern: acoustic guitars from the early albums have been replaced by organic-sounding electric guitars" and found that the album "recalls the original Shakti incarnation" due to the presence of violin. Jurek concluded that "the ensuing decades of individual and collective music experiences – as well as decades-old creative and personal connections between McLaughlin, Hussain, and Mahadevan – result in extraordinary musical communication that transcends traditions, concepts, and formal approaches, making Shakti a band for the ages".[4] Ian Patterson of All About Jazz described the album as "splendid stuff", calling it "instantly recognisable as Shakti, yet with fresh sounds, as one might hope and expect from such a pioneering band—the band that, as many would have it, invented World Music before the term was born". Patterson remarked that there is no one highlight as "they unfold from first note to last, the players flowing in and out in a seamless choreography which is, by turns, joyous, thrilling and moving".[3]

## Track listing

[edit]

This Moment track listingNo.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "Shrini's Dream"| 6:30
2.| "Bending the Rules"| 7:11
3.| "Karuna"| 8:33
4.| "Mohanam"| 6:01
5.| "Giriraj Sudha"| 10:38
6.| "Las Palmas"| 4:11
7.| "Changay Naino"| 6:08
8.| "Sono Mama"| 7:48
Total length:| 57:00

## Awards

[edit]

This Moment (Shakti album) won the Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album in 2024.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Owen, Matt (20 April 2023). "John McLaughlin's fusion ensemble Shakti announce first studio album in 46 years". Guitar World. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
2. ^ Ng, Scott. "John McLaughlin's Shakti announce their first studio album in 46 years". Guitar.com. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
3. ^ a b Patterson, Ian (12 June 2023). "Shakti: This Moment album review". All About Jazz. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
4. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "Shakti – This Moment Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
5. ^ "2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See Miley Cyrus, Ice Spice, Noah Kahan, Kelsea Ballerini, & More Artists' Reactions | GRAMMY.com". www.grammy.com. Retrieved 11 November 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Shakti

Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.

* John McLaughlin
* Shankar Mahadevan
* Zakir Hussain
* Ganesh Rajagopalan
* V. Selvaganesh

* L. Shankar
* Ramnad Raghavan
* T. H. Vinayakram

Studio albums|

* A Handful of Beauty (1976)
* Natural Elements (1977)
* This Moment (2023)

Live albums|

* Shakti (1975)

As Remember Shakti|

* Remember Shakti (1997)
* The Believer (released 2000)
* Saturday Night in Bombay (released 2001)

* v
* t
* e

John McLaughlin

Solo albums|

* Extrapolation
* Where Fortune Smiles
* Devotion
* My Goal's Beyond
* Electric Guitarist
* Electric Dreams
* Belo Horizonte
* Music Spoken Here
* Live at the Royal Festival Hall
* Que Alegria
* Time Remembered: John McLaughlin Plays Bill Evans
* Tokyo Live
* After the Rain
* The Promise
* The Guitar Trio
* The Heart of Things
* The Heart of Things: Live in Paris
* Thieves and Poets
* Industrial Zen
* Floating Point
* To the One
* Now Here This
* Black Light
* Liberation Time

with Miles Davis|

* In a Silent Way
* Bitches Brew
* Jack Johnson
* Live-Evil
* On the Corner
* Big Fun
* Get Up with It
* Circle in the Round
* Directions
* You're Under Arrest
* Aura
* The Cellar Door Sessions 1970

with the
Mahavishnu Orchestra|

* The Inner Mounting Flame
* Birds of Fire
* The Lost Trident Sessions
* Between Nothingness & Eternity
* Apocalypse
* Visions of the Emerald Beyond
* Inner Worlds
* Mahavishnu
* Adventures in Radioland

with Shakti and Remember Shakti|

* Shakti with John McLaughlin
* A Handful of Beauty
* Natural Elements
* Remember Shakti
* Remember Shakti – The Believer
* Remember Shakti – Saturday Night in Bombay
* This Moment

Collaborative albums|

* Super Nova
* Emergency!
* Things We Like
* Escalator over the Hill
* One Man Dog
* Love Devotion Surrender
* Welcome
* Moto Grosso Feio
* School Days
* Friday Night in San Francisco
* Passion, Grace and Fire
* Round Midnight (soundtrack)
* Making Music
* Universal Syncopations
* Five Peace Band Live
* Saturday Night in San Francisco

Related articles|

* Discography

*[No.]: Number
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template