Shakti NPR Tiny Desk Concert (2023)

Here is Hussain reuniting with jazz guitarist John McLaughlin for their project Shakti at NPR’s Tiny Desk.

NPR’s Felix Contreras says:

“It's hard to get past the significance of this performance by the Indian jazz fusion band, Shakti. Initially formed in 1973 by jazz guitarist John McLaughlin with virtuoso traditional Indian musicians, the band opened the doors for others to expand their musical appreciation beyond Western music. 50 years later, as guitarist McLaughlin reunites with tabla player Zakir Hussain to take Shakti on another world tour, the group stopped by for a magically inspiring performance behind the Tiny Desk.”

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Setlist:

1. "Shrini's Dream"

2. "Lotus Feet"

3. "Bending the Rules"

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Players:

• John McLaughlin: guitar

• Zakir Hussain: tabla

• Selvaganesh Vinayakaram: kanjira, ghatam

• Shankar Mahadevan: vocals

• Ganesh Rajagopalan: violin

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• Visit Zakir Hussain’s official website

• Follow Zakir Hussain on Facebook

• Purchase Zakir Hussain’s music at Amazon

• Listen to “Raga Kedar: Gat In Ektaal” by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma & Ustad Zakir Hussain on Episode 17 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Superhsow.

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Playlist: Apothecary of Wonders

Here is a fun mix I’ve been listening to in the office lately. I thought you might like it.

Sort of works with a musical mood, sort of doesn’t. Just the way I like it.

An international flavor travelogue.

An auditory exploration.

Tracklist:

1. “Wandering Melodic Road “ by The Tune

2. “Nobody Knew The Time” by Beasts of Paradise

3. “Reflection” by Faran Ensemble

4. “Chyraa Khoor” Huun-Huur-Tu

5. “Signs” by Eishan Ensemble

6. “The Imam” by Sun City Girls

7. “Junkanoo” by Exuma

8. “Bismillah” by Sarathy Korwar

9. “Biba Sada Dil Mor De” by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

10. “Shudh Sarang” by Pramod Kumar

11. “Farah 'Alaiyna (Joy Upon Us)” by Ahmed Abdul-Malik

12. “Mustt Mustt (Extended)” by Kiran Ahluwalia

• Browse other Holiday at the Sea playlists.

• Visit the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow page where you can find:

  • “Wandering Melodic Road “ by The Tune on Episode 10.

  • "Nobody Knew The Time" by Beasts of Paradise on Episode 13.

  • "Reflection" by Faran Ensemble on Episode 03.

  • “Chyraa Khoor” by Huun-Huur-Tu on Episode 19.

  • "”Esoterica Of Abyssynia” by Sun City Girls on Episode 26.

    • Browse other Holiday at the Sea posts about Sun City Girls

  • "Junkanoo" by Exuma on Episode 10.

  • "Bismillah" by Sarathy Korwar on Episode 08.

    • Browse other Holiday at the Sea posts about Sarathy Korwar

  • "Shudh Sarang" by Pramod Kumar on Episode 03.

  • “Farah 'Alaiyna (Joy Upon Us)” by Ahmed Abdul-Malik on Episode 28.

  • "Mustt Mustt (Extended)" by Kiran Ahluwalia on Episode 02.

    • Browse other Holiday at the Sea posts about Kiran Ahluwalia.

• Browse other Holiday at the Sea posts about Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

• Download a PDF of the Jewel Case art if you’re in to that sort of thing.

Thelonious Monk Quartet 1966

The internet can be a lovely place sometimes.

For example, did you know that with the most basic of Google-Fu skills, you can find amazing live concerts on the Interwebs just waiting for you to watch? Like this video of the amazing Thelonious Monk Quartet in 1966. It’s labeled “Thelonious Monk Quartet Live In 66 Norway & Denmark concerts” with only a set list and no other information. Oh well, what more do you need? I’m sure if you have more than the most basic Google-Fu skills, you can find out more about this lineup and shows than I cared to. I just wanted to get my Monk Swing on.

• Visit Thelonious Monk’s page at Blue Note Records.

• Purchase Thelonious Monk’s music at Amazon.

Shabaka and the Ancestors (Cosmic Soul Jazz For The End Of Days)

Bandleader Shabaka Hutchings has made a name for himself as an adventurous player in the adventurous London jazz scene. Perhaps most well known for his role in Sons of Kemet, or The Comet Is Coming, Hutchings recently released his sophomore release with Shabaka and the Ancestors, We Are Sent Here By History.

While Hutchings is the constant between the three projects, each has its own unique personality. Shabaka and the Ancestors finds Hutchings collaborating with a group of South African artists. The album’s page at Impulse Records says:

“We Are Sent Here by History’ is a meditation on the fact of our coming extinction as a species. It is a reflection from the ruins, from the burning. a questioning of the steps to be taken in preparation for our transition individually and societally if the end is to be seen as anything but a tragic defeat. For those lives lost and cultures dismantled by centuries of western expansionism, capitalist thought and white supremist structural hegemony the end days have long been heralded as present with this world experienced as an embodiment of a living purgatory.”

The album is out now on Impulse! Records.

Watch the band live at North Sea Jazz 2017:

• Visit the official Shabaka Hutchings website.

• Visit Shabaka and the Ancestors’ Bandcamp page.

• Follow Shabaka and the Ancestors at Facebook.

McCoy Tyner and Freddie Hubbard (McCoy Tyner Trio at Jazztage Stuttgart 1990)

With the recent passing of jazz legend McCoy Tyner, this seems like as good a time as any to watch the 1990 1990 McCoy Tyner Trio Set from Stuttgart featuring Freddie Hubbard.

The Take The "A" Train blogspot offers the following background for the concert:

“A torrent of notes on keyboard and flugelhorn. Three decades after the photograph above was taken, pianist McCoy Tyner and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard are back together, this time in Stuttgart, Germany.

Freshly digitized from a nearly disintegrating VHS tape (while the image remains amazingly intact, reminding us about the virtues of analogue formats that at least allow for some sort of extraction), this exciting concert is the complete TV broadcast of McCoy Tyner Trio featuring Freddie Hubbard and Ralph Moore.”

Jazztage '90
Stuttgart, Germany
July 13, 1990

• Freddie Hubbard (t, flugelhorn),

• Ralph Moore (ts, ss),

• McCoy Tyner (p),

• Avery Sharpe (b),

• Aaron Scott (d)

Tracklisting:
00:00 Introduction in German
01:08 Dear John
14:20 Twilight Mist [only the trio]
23:30 Embraceable You 
32:40 Reinhold Beckmann interviews Tyner and Hubbard
40:31 One Of Another Kind

• Visit McCoy Tyner’s official website.

• Follow McCoy Tyner’s Facebook page.

• Purchase MCoy Tyner’s music at Amazon.

• Visit Freddie Hubbard’s page at Blue Note Records.

• Purchase Freddie Hubbard’s music at Amazon.