Shakti band members (L-R) V Selvaganesh, Shankar Mahadevan, John McLaughlin, Ganesh Rajagopalan and Zakir Hussain

In their 50th anniversary year, things have become even more special for jazz-fusion stalwarts Shakti. The group, comprising guitarist John McLaughlin, tabla player Ustad Zakir Hussain, vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, percussionist V Selvaganesh and violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, has bagged a Grammy nomination for This Moment, their first album in 45 years.

“It was an absolute surprise,” says Mahadevan, who has been associated with the band for 24 years. He adds, “On Dhanteras, I offered my prayers to Maa Saraswati and Maa Laxmi at my sister-in-law’s place and minutes later, Selvaganesh ji called to inform me about the nomination. I called Zakir bhai to congratulate him as he’s got three nominations. When I called John McLaughlin ji, he didn’t even know we were nominated (laughs).”

Released in June, This Moment comprises eight new compositions and has been nominated in the Global Music Album category alongside Peruvian music icon Susana Baca, Creole-French band Bokanté, Nigerian musician Burna Boy and American-Nigerian singer Davido, among others.

Ask how the album worked out and Mahadevan, 56, shares, “We’re a world fusion band that’s a perfect blend of strong Indian melodic content and complex rhythms of the East with the harmonic elements of the West. We never did a studio recording as we were always touring. I am glad we created this studio album after 45 years. I feel This Moment earned a nomination as it has the true essence of Indian and Western melody and harmonic structures.”

Shakti toured India and abroad to celebrate their 50th anniversary. They released the album in June in memory of mandolin stalwart and a key member of the band, the late U Srinivas.