Ragas (CD)

The celebrated Indian sarod virtuoso, Ali Akbar Khan, was originally born in Bangladesh. In the early 1940s, he accepted an appointment as court musician for the royal family of Jodhpur, which led to numerous public appearances, increased popularity, and the title "Ustad" (master musician). In the 1950s Khan opened his own music school in Calcutta, and then moved to the United States to teach in the mid-1960s, where he has since remained. He has performed frequently with Ravi Shankar (his former brother-in-law), recorded extensively, and has received India's Padma Vibhushan award, as well as grants from the NEA and the MacArthur Foundation, among numerous other honors.

A master of the sitar as well as a famous experimenter with its classical forms, Ravi Shankar is probably the world's best-known Indian musician. First recorded in 1936, he has had a rich career spanning seven decades. His mentoring of the Beatles during the height of their fame in the 1960s helped bring Shankar to the attention of Western audiences. But his influence extends far beyond Western pop, and he has spent much of his career bridging the gap between musical cultures.

• Category:  Music  »  Indian & Pakistani Music  »  Indian Classic Music
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: July 17, 1990
• Label: Fantasy Records (USA)
• UPC: 025218241427
• WAPI (Tower ID): 106645175
• Average Customer Review: There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #17052 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #18 in Indian & Pakistani Music (See Top 100 Indian & Pakistani Music Bestsellers)
• #9 in Indian Classic Music (See Top 100 Indian Classic Music Bestsellers)

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Personnel includes: Ravi Shankar (sitar); Ali Akbar Khan (sarod); Kanall Dutta (tabla); Nodu C. Mullick, Ashish Kumar (tamboura).

Tracks 1-2 originally released as "The Master Musicians of India" on Prestige (1078); tracks 3-4 released as "The Soul Of Indian Music" on Prestige (7403). Includes liner notes by Jonathan Cott.

Sitar player and composer Ravi Shankar is one of the most influential musical figures of the 20th century, having influenced the Beatles, John Coltrane, Philip Glass, Collin Walcott, and John McLaughlin, along with generations of Indian folk and classical musicians. He is one of the acknowledged masters of the raga, the deeply meditational, extended form of instrumental Indian music. Based in Hindu spiritual ritual, raga is a cyclic, trance-inducing style of music that bears an element of improvisation.

This CD is a coupling of two complete albums from the mid-'60s, featuring two of the legendary masters of Indian music, Shankar and sarod player Ali Akbar Khan. It is easy to see why Shankar appealed to forward-looking rock and jazz musicians. A song like "Raga Bilashkani Todi" has a subtle yet driving rhythm and builds to a powerful crescendo, but at the same time retains a feeling of underlying deep unity. These pieces demonstrate how in raga, the importance of the composition always takes precedence over individual musical performance. This album is a fine introduction to two masters of the form.

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