Ravi Shankar died on Friday at the age of 86. bUT NOT the Ravi Shankar pictured above, another one! A famous musical director. Apparently you can't throw a brick in India without hitting somebody with that name!!!.Like most Westeners, I first became aware of the Indian musical master through his work with George Harrison on the first side of the concert for Bangladesh. You know, the one where Ravi thanked the audience at MSG for applauding for the tuning of the sitars. Ha ha ha ha…
Yeah, I didn't have much time for Indian ragas.
But at one point in the early 90s I picked up the triple album for like three bucks from Sounds on St. Mark's Place and I'm damned if Ravi hadn't gotten better over time.
I certainly don't claim to ever becoming a fanatic, never saw him live while I did see, say, Nusrat Khan, another great world music guy, but Ravi opened my ears so when I came across crossover acts like Cornerstore or Falu, I knew what I was listening to.
My fave of his albums was something called "Chants Of India", a Hindu religious album, and I just checked, it is available for streaming. I wish I had better language to describe it but let me try. It is a two or three string instruments with a sort of vibrating echoey sounds behine two or three people, lead oa woman, somewhere between singing and charming. Very beautiful, very haunting.
Ravi was a deeply spiritual guy, whatever that means, and a lot of that art of dying stuff we know from Harrison came through him.
He was one of the greats. Our condolences to his daughter Norah Jones and the rest of his family. I would like to not offer my condolences to anyone whatsoever thanks.