Will the real Remember Shakti please stand up? In it's first release, Remember Shakti was a serious-minded, bottom-ended, soul-searching ensemble. This time out, Remember Shakti raises its pitch. McLaughlin has a foil in young electric mandolinist Shrinivas, who has created a whole new vocabulary for the instrument. Hussain has his foil as well. Selvaganesh is featured on the kanjira, a tambourine like instrument on which he is able to create sounds some trap kit players would be jealous of. (Note: Since a CD listener may not know what instrument Selvaganesh is playing ... his brilliance could be overlooked on a recording. To truly experience Selvaganesh's talent - you must see him live).

The Believer is louder, more light-hearted and lives in a higher register than Remember Shakti's first recording which featured flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and ghatam player Vikku Vinayakram. Of course, it has its serious moments as well, such as Hussain's touching tribute to his late father Ustad Allarakha through the music of Ma No Pa. (At least that is how this reviewer interprets the title).

Shrinivas is a real discovery to Western audiences. He is a magician on his chosen instrument. He and McLaughlin play many unison lines with such precision and feeling that these moments are transcendent. Both players put their strings through a stretching routine which is genre bending. Important to the playing is also the fact that Shrinivas seems quite at home soloing (improvising or not) with some Western sensibilities. This is something that L. Shankar, as great as he was playing his violin for the original Shakti twenty-five years ago, never seemed to quite grasp.

As expected, McLaughlin is at home in almost any context. The superlatives have been tossed around too many times. But what does stand out ,especially so in Remember Shakti, is John's role as a teacher. This is not to say at all that John McLaughlin is a Western musician who has the capabilities to teach Shrinivas about Eastern music. Instead, it is quite clear John loves this music and he is passing its vitality and its young heritage onto the younger player. Such a relationship is much clearer with Hussain and Selvaganesh. Make no mistake about it. Shrinivas and Selvaganesh are the future of this music.

It seems the price great percussionists pay is that they tend to go under-recognized. In the Western world the focus is on the musicians who carry the melody. Zakir Hussain has proven through his different percussion projects and performances that there is more to music than just the melody. In fact, the truth is that in ensemble work, it is the drummer or percussionist which is of utmost importance. Zakir Hussain is important to Remember Shakti and for that matter, he is one of the most important players in the world.

The high point of the album is Finding The Way which appears both on the CD and on the video. It is this idea of searching which best expresses the band's music. As much as I like the classic Lotus Feet, its appearance on two albums in a row is a bit much however, and I would have appreciated another tune.

So, after listening to The Believer - will you believe? Yes. The Believer is an outstanding recording representing the best that these two worlds of Eastern and Western music can offer with a few other things thrown in for fun. That The Believer follows on the heels of its more serious-minded predecessor is a tribute to the imagination of the two elders of the band.

If you are lucky enough to get hold of the Special Edition of The Believer, you will be very pleased with the CD-Rom video. However, I must warn you that you will need a very powerful computer to get the best results.