ROCK • A • RAMA

SHAKTI WITH JOHN McLAUGHLIN— Natural Elements (Columbia)::I'm not quite sure why this spiritually slanted music slips through my cynicism but it does. Maybe it's "cause Shakti don't need banks of amps to get energized or maybe it's "cause the lack of a spotlight lately has allowed McLaughlin's gifts to grow rather than stagnate like they did with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.