Shakti was an acoustic fusion group that combined Indian music and elements of jazz. John McLaughlin, an English guitarist, was joined by Shankar Hussain (on tabla), R. Raghavan on the Mridangam, and T. H. Vinayakaram, (on Ghatam). Shakti was able to fuse Western and Indian music. Hussain hails from the North, while the other Indian members hail from the South. Shakti was formed in the 1970s and toured extensively from 1975 to 1977. The group only made sporadic, with personnel changes, appearances thereafter. Shakti, their first album, has a long-lasting following. McLaughlin formed Remember Shakti, a second band that was based on the same concept. Text contributed by users is available under Creative Commons By–SA License. It may also be available under GNU FDL.