Search - Ravi Shankar :: Very Best of Ravi Shankar

Hailed as a sensationally gifted sitarist and composer throughout the world, Ravi Shankar has done more than any other musician to bring Indian music to a Western audience . This set brings together highlights from Shankar's long and distinguished career, including excerpts from his iconic West Meets East collaborations with Yehudi Menuhin and the historic live recording of his 2000 Carnegie Hall concert with his daughter Anoushka. "Ravi Shankar has brought me a precious gift and through him I have added a new dimension to my experience of music. To me, his genius and his humanity can only be compared to that of Mozart's." Yehudi Menuhin "Ravi Shankar is the Godfather of World Music" George Harrison On 7 April this year the great Indian musician and composer Ravi Shankar celebrated his 90th birthday. Shankar was born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury in Varanasi into a wealthy and conservative Brahmin family of cultured Bengalis. He was the youngest of seven brothers. At the age of ten Shankar journeyed to Paris with a dance group and by the age of 13 had learned to dance and play various Indian instruments, notably the Sitar on which he became the virtuoso we know today. The dance group toured Europe and America in the 1930s and Shankar learned French, discovered Western classical music, jazz and cinema, and became acquainted with Western customs. Shankar finished his studies in 1944 and began work as a composer and performer. In the 1950s he was chosen by the great Indian film director Satyajit Ray to write the music for his Apu Trilogy, comprising three of the greatest ever works for the cinema. During the 1950s and '60s Shankar's name became closely associated with George Harrison of the Beatles and especially with Yehudi Menuhin, who he had met during Menuhin's first visit to India in 1952. He later made several notable recordings with Menuhin: a selection is contained on CD1 of this set. Shankar's contact with the West brought about a growing interest in Indian music in both Europe and North America which, in turn, led to an incleasing interest and love of World Music, and has made Shankar one of the World's most influential musicians. Ravi Shankar now lives in Southern California with his wife, Sukanya, the mother of Anoushka.