12.12.12. It's a special date to every music
lover throughout the world. The ambassador of Indian Music, Ravindra Shankar Chowdhury, has passed away
today leaving a vacuum not to be filled. I would like to pay my deepest
condolence to the members of his family and musical family. May his soul rest
in eternal bliss and peace.
Ravi
Shankar was born on April 7, 1920, in Varanasi. At the age of 10, he moved to
Paris to join the world famous dance troupe of his brother Uday. Over the next
eight years, Shankar traveled with the troupe across Europe, America and Asia,
and later credited his early immersion in foreign cultures with making him such
an effective ambassador for Indian music.
During one tour, renowned musician Baba Allaudin Khan joined the troupe, took Shankar under his wing and eventually became his teacher through 7 1/2 years of isolated, rigorous study of the sitar."Khan told me you have to leave everything else and do one thing properly," Shankar said.
In the 1950s, Shankar began gaining fame throughout India. He held the influential position of music director for All India Radio in New Delhi and wrote the scores for several popular films. He began writing compositions for orchestras, blending clarinets and other foreign instruments into traditional Indian music.And he became a de facto tutor for Westerners fascinated by India's musical traditions.He gave lessons to Coltrane, who named his son Ravi in Shankar's honor, and became close friends with Menuhin, recording the acclaimed "West Meets East" album with him. He also collaborated with flutist Jean Pierre Rampal, composer Philip Glass and conductors Andre Previn and Zubin Mehta.
"Any player on any instrument with any ears would be deeply moved by Ravi Shankar. If you love music, it would be impossible not to be," singer David Crosby, whose band The Byrds was inspired by Shankar's music, said in the book "The Dawn of Indian Music in the West: Bhairavi."
During one tour, renowned musician Baba Allaudin Khan joined the troupe, took Shankar under his wing and eventually became his teacher through 7 1/2 years of isolated, rigorous study of the sitar."Khan told me you have to leave everything else and do one thing properly," Shankar said.
In the 1950s, Shankar began gaining fame throughout India. He held the influential position of music director for All India Radio in New Delhi and wrote the scores for several popular films. He began writing compositions for orchestras, blending clarinets and other foreign instruments into traditional Indian music.And he became a de facto tutor for Westerners fascinated by India's musical traditions.He gave lessons to Coltrane, who named his son Ravi in Shankar's honor, and became close friends with Menuhin, recording the acclaimed "West Meets East" album with him. He also collaborated with flutist Jean Pierre Rampal, composer Philip Glass and conductors Andre Previn and Zubin Mehta.
"Any player on any instrument with any ears would be deeply moved by Ravi Shankar. If you love music, it would be impossible not to be," singer David Crosby, whose band The Byrds was inspired by Shankar's music, said in the book "The Dawn of Indian Music in the West: Bhairavi."
In 1971, moved by the plight of
millions of refugees fleeing into India to escape the war in Bangladesh,
Shankar reached out to Harrison to see what they could do to help.In what
Shankar later described as "one of the most moving and intense musical
experiences of the century," the pair organized two benefit concerts at
Madison Square Garden that included Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr.
FREE DOWNLOAD THE FOLLOWING MUSIC TRACKS BY Pt. RAVI SHANKAR
2 comments:
One of the nice posts I have ever come across.Thanks a lot..
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