John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain’s Shakti announced tour dates to celebrate the world fusion ensemble’s 50th anniversary. The group’s first U.S. tour in 16 years around their first studio album in 46 years, This Moment (Summer 2023), will include special guests banjoist Béla Fleck and guitarist Bill Frisell on select dates.
“Hearing Shakti was a revelation and I started listening right when they started,” Béla Fleck said of the renowned world group. “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 [on 2009’s Melody of Rhythm: Triple Concerto & Music for Trio] 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.”
Fleck will also collaborate with Shakti — currently consisting of guitarist John McLaughlin, tabla player/percussionist Zakir Hussain, vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram — who will kick off the 50th-anniversary run in Boston on August 17 ahead of a stop at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York on August 19. Additional Northeast shows include Newark, New Jersey and Glenside, Pennsylvania.
On August 23, Shakti comes to the Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia before hitting the Ryman in Nashville on August 31. September 3 will see Shakti in Highland Park, Illinois near Chicago. The group will visit the Pacific Northwest with stops in Portland (September 5) and Seattle (September 6). Three California dates in Davis, San Francisco and Irvine follow.
On September 14, Shaki heads to Ann Arbor Michigan. The last date on the books so far, with more dates and special guests TBA, is in Cedar Park, Texas near Austin on September 16.
A ticket pre-sale gets underway on Thursday, February 2. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 3 at 10 a.m. local venue time.
