Ravi Shankar (1920 – 2012)
Ravi Shankar, an universally beloved musician who introduced Indian music to the West, passed away Tuesday at a hospital near his home in Southern California. Trained in both Eastern and Western musical traditions, Shankar, a master of the sitar, and spent his entire life bridging the gap between the two styles. He befriended George Harrison in the mid 60’s and taught Harrison how to play the sitar. Harrison’s interest in Indian music found its way into Beatle classics as ‘Norwegian Wood’ and ‘Within You Without You’. After a cyclone and civil unrest devastated Bangladesh, Shankar, reached out to Harrison to help organize The Concert For Bangladesh, the first major rock benefit concert.
Shankar’s appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival (and film) won him new legion of fans within the rock community. Shankar’s influence can be heard in ‘The End’ by The Doors, ‘Eight Miles High’ by The Byrds, ‘Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen’ by Santana, ‘East-West’ by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, ‘His Holy Modal Majesty’ by Al Kooper, among many, many others. Shankar also had a profound effect in the jazz world. He developed a strong bond with John Coltrane, (the jazz great named his son after Shankar) and his presence can be felt in the later works of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Pharoah Sanders, and Coltrane’s widow Alice.
In later years, Shankar collaborated with a wide variety of artists that included Philip Glass, Zubin Meta, and Andre Previn. In 1982, he was nominated for The Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for his work on the film Gandhi.
Shankar’s children have also carried on his legacy. His late son, Shubhendra “Shubho” Shankar was a skilled sitarist and joined his father on numerous tours before he passed away in 1992. His daughter Anoushka is also accompanied him on several and has gone on to become a world renown artist. Then there’s of course, Norah Jones, the multiple platinum, Grammy award winning singer, songwriter and musician, whose debut album Come Away With Me is one of the best selling albums of the last 15 years.
Ravi Shankar was 92 years old.
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