Strength in Numbers on YouTube

More documenting.  Again from YouTube, this old jewel about newgrass supergroup Strength in Numbers, which features a rousing performance of "Blue Men of the Sahara" starting at 2:38.

I first saw it on a VHS in the early days of my attending the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and of course what immediately struck me about the performance was the interplay between Edgar Meyer (bass) and Mark O'Connor (fiddle).  Edgar is full "goad mode on" here, and O'Connor just tears it up.

At the time, my wife (who wasn't exactly heavy into bluegrass) commented that that fella may look like a truck driver at first glance, but then he does things you don't usually expect truck drivers to do.

And then some.  O'Connor does things you don't usually expect mortal human beings to do.

Shakti on YouTube

Documenting.  By one of those glorious accidents, I ran across a YouTube of Shakti from 1974, and as one might imagine it deserves to be noted here.

God, I love YouTube.

And that's just about what I'd have expected to see, to go along with those precious and magnificent audio recordings.  The greatest fault with the original Shakti is that there was not more of it.

Among those things that came along and just knocked my musical ear right on its very ass, Shakti rates among the highest;  unlike most folks I know, I don't consider the Mahavishnu Orchestra to be the crown jewel of McLaughlin's substantial career.  No offense to that great project, but I'll take Shakti any day.