How Shankar Mahadevan joined Zakir Hussain & John McLaughlin's Indo Jazz band Shakti

Zakir Hussain (right) with Shakti band members. (Photo via X / John McLaughlin)

Sometime between the success of Breathless and Dil Chahta Hai, Shankar Mahadevan worked with Zakir Hussain on an album for Taufiq Qureshi—titled Rhydhun (Nothing but Voice), the album was dedicated to Qureshi's father Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi. One thing led to another, and in 1999 Mahadevan sent a recording to John McLaughlin who'd been looking for a vocalist for the iconic Indo Jazz band Shakti. This happened at the turn of the century; Shankar Mahadevan played with Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, U. Srinivas and V. Selvaganesh in Shakti's very next performance at the Rang Bhavan in Mumbai in 2000. A recording of the concert, Saturday Night In Bombay, is now famous. Mahadevan has been part of Shakti since. Twenty-four years on, the re-formed Shakti have won the 2024 Grammy Award for the Best Global Music Album.

An excerpt from The Authorized Biography of Shankar Mahadevan, The Musical Maverick by Ashis Ghatak, on how Shankar Mahadevan joined Shakti:

In another number from Rhydhun, titled ‘The Other Rhythm’, along with Taufiq and Shankar, Zakir (Hussain) too joined in. He recited konakkol and played several percussion instruments. Taufiq experimented with an unusual Brazilian instrument called berimbau and also with Japanese tyco drums. The music video for the song was done by the Bollywood filmmaker Kunal Kohli. Kunal was making an ad film those days, where Taufiq played the percussion and Shankar lent his voice. So, in a way, these two were like the team in demand for their unique quality—one for percussion and the other for vocals.

More stories: Shakti at 50 | Shankar Mahadevan: 'Shakti is a band that is going to live forever'

When the Rhydhun project was going on, one day, Taufiq dropped a proposal of joining Shakti, the most iconic and prestigious Indo jazz outfit of all time, to Shankar. Ever since he sang in fusion bands like Divya, Surya and then SILK, he had dreamt of being a part of Shakti but Taufiq’s proposal took Shankar by surprise. With his induction in Shakti, an extremely significant chapter was added to his musical journey and things seemed to be falling into place like a jigsaw puzzle.

When Zakir came in for a couple of compositions for Rhydhun, the bandmates of Shakti got together after a hiatus of nearly two decades. They were having a UK tour and John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain—the two founders of the band—had to reform the original Shakti that also had Vikku Vinayakram (the ghatam player) and L. Shankar (the violinist extraordinaire) at the time of the band’s inception. Following the death of his father, Vikku had to take care of his music school in Madras and L. Shankar almost took a self-exile. Zakir and John invited Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia as a guest artist for their concerts. The first album with this reconstituted outfit, under the banner of Universal, was a result of a live recording of that tour.

The newly formed Shakti was renamed ‘Remember Shakti’ as a homage to the original band. After the release of the album named after their band, they got the offer to continue their musical tours all over the world. The reunion of the bandmates gave John and Zakir immense satisfaction, as after 20 years they would get an opportunity to unfold magic on stage with their unique repertoire of fusion music. But with time, they had to evolve with newer interpretations of their old classics. They also wanted some new compositions with newer ideas. Unfortunately, Hariprasad Chaurasia could not continue visiting with the band because of his preoccupation with other concerts. The baton of Vikku Vinayakram was handed down to the next generation of musicians.

V. Selvaganesh, Vikku’s son and hugely talented kanjira player, was roped in. The mandolin sensation U. Srinivas was inducted as well when he caught John’s attention at a concert where he was performing with Vikku. At the same time, John was thinking of having one voice in the band. That was just before the winter concerts of Shakti in India and John expressed his desire to Zakir.

Rupa Publications; Rs 695

Coming to India for the recording and successive release of Rhydhun, Zakir shared the idea with Taufiq. He was even toying with the idea of including guest artists like a sitar player, a flautist or a Carnatic violinist, if there was no vocalist to meet up to their standards. Without a second thought, Taufiq dropped Shankar’s name to Zakir. But Zakir was not very sure how Shankar would fit the bill. He asked for a sample of Shankar’s vocal pieces which
he could send to John.

The day Taufiq dropped the proposal to Shankar in Gallactica, Shankar couldn’t believe it. The moment he understood that a sample of his singing was to be sent to ‘The’ John McLaughlin, he immediately stopped the recording. He asked the assistant in the studio to put on any loop or rhythm. A sruti came to his mind. Within 15 minutes, he recorded it in Todi Raga decorated with alaaps and sargams in Carnatic style. For many days, there was no response from John or Zakir. A few months after, when Shankar had almost forgotten about it, he received a call. John was at the other end. John had decided to contact Shankar immediately after hearing the first 30 seconds of the CD.

John McLaughlin remembers the impact of Shankar’s voice. He said:

"I got a call from Zakir and he told me that he had met Shankar and expressed my desire to have a vocalist join Shakti. A few days later I received a CD from Shankar which had him singing various classical pieces and improvisations. The moment I heard him, I immediately felt that his was the voice I was looking for. I called him to tell him how impressed I am with his singing."

Excerpted from the chapter 'Saturday Night in Bombay', in The Authorized Biography of Grammy 2024 Winner for Best Global Music Album, Shankar Mahadevan (Rs 695; 392 pages), The Musical Maverick by Ashis Ghatak, with permission from Rupa Publications India.