John McLaughlin said no to being a permanent member in Miles Davis’ band. Then he founded Shakti.

In February 1996, I was in the restroom during intermission at the Keswick Theatre’s Shakti show. There were three South Asian virtuosos on stage with John McLaughlin, but the demographic distribution in the restroom line was the opposite. Behind me, two McLaughlin fans were discussing the proceedings

“John [was] on fire as usual. Who is that tearing up the mandolin though? That boy can play! Wow!”

The “boy” was the late U. Srinivas, a member of the second incarnation of Shakti.

Twenty-seven years and a few incarnations later, Shakti returns to the Keswick on Aug. 22.

Onstage will be McLaughlin (guitar), Ustad Zakir Hussain (percussion and tabla), V. Selvaganesh (percussion and kanjira), Shankar Mahadevan (vocal), and Ganesh Rajagopalan (violin).

Opening as a solo act is Bela Fleck. A longtime fan of Shakti, Fleck has collaborated with Hussain and Edgar Meyer on numerous projects.

After performing on Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, McLaughlin turned down a permanent position in Davis’ band. Not finding the answers he was looking for in Western music, McLaughlin turned East in the belief that Indian classical music has always been inseparable from the ways of enlightenment.

Following a series of experiments with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, he formed Shakti, the genre-defying fusion group that sits at the intersection of jazz and Carnatic classical music in 1974.

While studying the veena at Wesleyan University in the early 1970s, McLaughlin connected with Shakti founding member L. Shankar through his guru, Ramnad Raghavan. He met Hussain at a music shop in New York’s Greenwich Village. A subsequent jam session in San Francisco under the watchful eye of the late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan sealed the deal. T.H. (Vikku) Vinayakram joined soon after. The chemistry was undeniable; the group was born.

McLaughlin won a Grammy in 2018 for his solo on “Miles Beyond” from his album Live at Ronnie Scott’s; Hussain won one for best classical crossover album in 2010. In 1992, he cocreated Planet Drum with the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart; it won the first-ever Grammy for best world music album. The musicians are now on their 50th anniversary tour, which started in India and has made its way through Europe, performing to sold-out audiences.

Held together by “parampara,” the idea of inheriting a legacy or succession, this tour stitches together generations of musical knowledge with a sound that is ever-evolving. A highlight of the tour’s India leg, Hussain said to The Inquirer, was the Mumbai concert where Vinayakram joined the group on stage. “When Vikku-ji walked on stage and the audience stood up and started applauding, we were all caught up in that euphoria. We were transported back 50 years,” Hussain said.

Over the last few decades, Philadelphia has long been a prized connection for Shakti.

“I have been playing nonstop in Philly for the last 25-26 years,” said Hussain. “Selva bhai [V. Selvaganesh] has come with me to the [Painted] Bride to play. Planet Drum performed at the Keswick many moons ago.” Selvaganesh’s first “Masters of Percussion” tour stop was also in Philadelphia. Today, the percussionist performs regularly across the East Coast and runs a chapter of Vinayakram’s JGTV School in New York.

“For this [tour], we were in different places. Zakir bhai was in America and I was in India,” explained Selvaganesh. “Because of restrictions imposed by COVID … it was necessary for us to create arrangements [remotely],” said Hussain. “As opposed to the old Shakti, where we would sit in the studio and play a piece 5, 6, 7 times and then pick one that was the best.”

Performing the pieces when they first got together in person was a challenge, Hussain said, but if audience recordings of previous tour stops are any indication, the kinks have been worked out.

If this is your first Shakti concert, be ready to witness virtuosity, onstage mirth, multi-genre layering, telekinetic improvisations, and pure, unbridled joy. Longtime fans can expect to hear familiar favorites and be wowed by the music that was composed for this tour.

“The kind of musical traditions in and around the city [are] mind-boggling,” Hussain said of Philadelphia. “There is African, Afro Cuban, Arabic, Indian music and traditions. So to come there [to Philly] is to sample and be a part of that experience.”

They are excited to perform in Philadelphia. This will be a concert to remember.

“Shakti feat. John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain with Bela Fleck.” Aug. 22. 7 p.m., Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside. https://www.keswicktheatre.com/events/detail/469985