SHAKTI – The 50th Anniversary Tour
Global fusion alchemists Shakti return to Portland on their First U.S Tour in 16 Years.
MEMBERS PRE-SALE WEDS FEB 1 at 10AM
PUBLIC ON-SALE FRI FEB 3 at 10AM
An unprecedented, transcontinental collaboration, Shakti united eastern and western musicians, and in the process forged the template for what is now called “world music.” From the West came virtuoso British guitarist John McLaughlin, who re-wired jazz via his work with Miles Davis, Tony Williams Lifetime and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. From the East came visionary tabla player Zakir Hussain, who had accompanied legendary Hindustani musicians from adolescence.
Shakti’s cross-cultural musical conversation dissolved boundaries with uncommon passion, grace, and dexterity – awakening subsequent generations of musicians to the possibilities of such hybrids in the process.
Following word of the Summer 2023 release of This Moment – their first new studio album in 46 years – revolutionary world music ensemble Shakti will continue to discover and explore the musical common ground bridging East and West.
Béla Fleck, is the world’s premier banjo virtuoso, 16 time GRAMMY winner and celebrated musical adventurer, will open the performances with a solo set and will then join forces with Shakti later in the evening.
“Hearing Shakti was a revelation and I started listening right when they started,” Fleck recalls. “Something about Shakti, and also making music with Zakir, was very relatable – perhaps akin to the acoustic guitar and fiddle. But it wasn’t until playing with Zakir and Edgar Meyer, that I started having more of a sense of what they were up to. Keeping in mind the virtuosic and energetic level of the band, I’ll be attempting to create a solo set that mesmerizes and excites.”
