Salon.com > Ravi Shankar

Who’s the next Ravi Shankar?

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 18:52:00 +0000

  NEW DELHI, India — When sitar master Ravi Shankar finally succumbed to time last week, Indian music lost its first and most famous ambassador. But a healthy crop of musicians are carrying the torch — straddling pop, indie, Bollywood and classical genres. Here are some names to follow.

Classical music

Zakir Hussain — a former child prodigy who first toured the US in 1970 — has done for the tabla what Shankar did for the sitar. In 1992 and 2009, he collaborated with Mickey Hart, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo on the Grammy-winning “Planet Drum” and “Global Drum Project” albums to introduce the world to Indian classical's curiously melodious drum. In earlier years, Hussain played with John McLaughlin's Shakti — one of the first efforts to fuse the rhythms and melodies of classical Indian ragas with the improvisations of Western jazz — touring extensively in the late 1970s. He worked on the soundtracks of Francis Ford Coppola's “Apocalypse Now” and Bernardo Bertolucci's “Little Buddha.” And he's capitalized on the growing crossover audience for Indian films, and films made by the Indian diaspora, with acting cameos and soundtrack work for movies such as Aparna Sen's “Mr. and Mrs. Iyer” and Ismail Merchant's “The Mystic Masseur.”

Ravi Shankar hated being linked to drugs

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Ravi Shankar, the sitarist and composer known for bringing India’s traditional sitar music to the masses worldwide via The Beatles, died yesterday near his home in Southern California. The 92-year-old father of singer Norah Jones and sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar had suffered from upper respiratory and heart ailments, and underwent heart-valve replacement surgery last week. Shankar is credited with introducing the sitar to rock music, and worked closely with many of its stars, notably George Harrison. Groups like The Rolling Stones, The Animals and The Byrds then began to include the sitar in their own music, and Shankar went on to perform at festivals like the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 and at Woodstock in 1969. But he eventually began to regret these appearances—because his music became associated with drugs. “People would come to my concerts stoned, and they would sit in the audience drinking Coke and making out with their girlfriends,” he said in 1985. “I found it very humiliating, and there were many times I picked up my sitar and walked away. I tried to make the young people sit properly and listen. I assured them that if they wanted to be high, I could make them feel high through the music, without drugs, if they’d only give me a chance. It was a terrible experience at the time.” Still, Shankar gained lifelong fans: “But you know, many of those young people still come to our concerts,” he added. “They have matured, they are free from drugs, and they have a better attitude. And this makes me happy that I went through all that. I have come full circle.”

Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar dies at 92

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 05:06:00 +0000

Ravi Shankar, the sitar virtuoso who became a hippie musical icon of the 1960s after hobnobbing with the Beatles and who introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences over an eight-decade career, has died. He was 92.

The prime minister's office confirmed his death and called him a "national treasure."

Labeled "the godfather of world music" by George Harrison, Shankar helped millions of classical, jazz and rock lovers discover the centuries-old traditions of Indian music.

He also pioneered the concept of the rock benefit with the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh. To later generations, he was known as the estranged father of popular American singer Norah Jones.

As early as the 1950s, Shankar began collaborating with and teaching some of the greats of Western music, including violinist Yehudi Menuhin and jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. He played well-received shows in concert halls in Europe and the United States, but faced a constant struggle to bridge the musical gap between the West and the East.

Describing an early Shankar tour in 1957, Time magazine said "U.S. audiences were receptive but occasionally puzzled."

His close relationship with Harrison, the Beatles lead guitarist, shot Shankar to global stardom in the 1960s.

Quick Hits: Anoushka Shankar performs ISHQ

Wed, 30 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

There was a time when Anoushka Shankar’s music fell under her father’s shadow — how could it not, when you play the sitar and your father, Ravi Shankar, just happens to be the most famous sitar master in the world? But Anoushka has established herself as an extraordinary musician in her own right, with her own distinct voice. In London she recently won the Songlines Music Award for Best Artist of 2012. Her new album, “Traveller,” finds her exploring the common roots of Indian classical music and Spanish flamenco. She says the technical challenges were formidable, but the music explodes with an intensity that makes it all sound natural — and beautiful.

And as she explains to SOUND TRACKS reporter Arun Rath, she managed to get it all done through the pregnancy and birth of her first child, who now travels with her on tour.