Why is ravi shankar important

Today, world music is a viable part of the popular, roots, and classical soundscapes in America. Music from other cultures enriches us and provides new inspiration to American musicians and composers.

Shankar deserves credit for this transformation. To attend a Ravi Shankar concert was to watch a maestro at work and to partake in a quasi-spiritual experience through music. At many Shankar performances in the U.

But to hear the music meant to enjoy a journey taken both by the listeners and the musicians, and, hopefully, for all to wind up on the same higher plane of consciousness. While his fingers moved effortlessly up and down the long neck of the sitar plucking its many strings, Shankar would connect with the rhythms generated by the tabla players and the other instrumentalists onstage. The result was a celebration of Indian music that wowed the novice and elevated the serious fan. Not everyone in Indian classical music approved of the expansion of Indian music into rock, however limited.

Ravi Shankar performed at the two most important American rock festivals of the s: Monterey Pop and Woodstock. The former took place in June in Monterey, California.

Though most of the artists hailed from California, particularly San Francisco, acts from Canada, England, South Africa, and India Shankar participated in the three-day event. Woodstock occurred in August in upstate New York. By this time, Shankar was viewed as a musical member of the counterculture movement, as much for the spiritual nature of his music as the penetrating, hypnotic nature of it.

The concert was created and produced by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar to help those in Bangladesh ravaged by war and poverty. It was the first of its kind and provided inspiration for Live Aid, Farm Aid, and the many rock and pop benefit concerts and events that would follow. The performers played two shows—an afternoon and evening performance—in one day.

The Concert for Bangladesh is considered one of the high water marks in rock history, helping to give rock its conscience. All three children have well-known and accomplished artistic careers. Jones lived with her father until she was 4 and saw him intermittently until she was Jones lives in New York.

At the same time, Shankar was absorbing the musical traditions of the West and attending Parisian schools. This mixture of Indian and Western influences would be apparent in his later compositions, and would help him cultivate the respect and appreciation from Westerners that he sought for Indian music. At a music conference in , Shankar met guru and multi-instrumentalist Allaudin Khan, who became his mentor and musical guide for many years.

Just two years later, Khan became the soloist for Uday's dance troupe. Shankar went to Maihar, India to study sitar under Khan in The sitar is a guitar-like instrument with a long neck, six melody strings and 25 sympathetic strings that resonate as the melody strings are played.

Just one year after he began studying under Khan, Shankar began giving recitals. By this time, Khan had become far more than a music teacher to Shankar — he was also a spiritual and life guide to the young musician.

Of his mentor, whom he called "Baba," Shankar once recalled, "Baba himself was a deeply spiritual person. Despite being a devout Muslim, he could be moved by any spiritual path.

One morning, in Brussels, I brought him to a cathedral where the choir was singing. The moment we entered, I could see he was in a strange mood. The cathedral had a huge statue of the Virgin Mary. Baba went towards that statue and started howling like a child: 'Ma, Ma' mother, mother , with tears flowing freely. We had to drag him out. Learning under Baba was a double whammy—the whole tradition behind him, plus his own religious experience.

Ten years after meeting Khan and six years after beginning his music studies, Shankar's sitar training ended. Thereafter, he went to Mumbai, where he worked for the Indian People's Theatre Association, composing music for ballets until He went on to become music director of the New Delhi radio station All-India Radio, a position he held until During his time at AIR, Shankar composed pieces for orchestra that mixed sitar and other Indian instruments with classical Western instrumentation.

Also during this period, he began performing and writing music with American-born violinist Yehudi Menuhin, with whom he would later record three albums: the Grammy Award—winning West Meets East , West Meets East, Vol.

All the while, the name Ravi Shankar was becoming more and more recognized internationally. In , Shankar gave a recital in the Soviet Union. In , he debuted in the United States and Western Europe. The prize is awarded to the best film of the festival. He began to branch out as a composer, writing music for ballet and for important films such as such as Dharti Ke Lal and Neecha Nagar. He also composed the song Sare Jahan Se Accha, which is one of the most widely known piece of music in India.

During the years Shankar composed some of his most famous music, most notably in the internationally-acclaimed film studios of Calcutta, where he scored The Ray Triology. For his outstanding contribution to Indian music and culture, he received his first of five Presidential Awards in , India's highest honor in the arts.

In the mids, his preeminence as one of the world's leading serious musicians was augmented with wide popular success. George Harrison of The Beatles developed a deep, abiding interest in Hindustani music, and began to study with Shankar. One influence of this study can be heard in his song Within You, Without You.

Shankar died in San Diego, California in at the age of Sign In. Edit Ravi Shankar. Showing all 21 items. Taught George Harrison of the Beatles how to play the sitar, an instrument on which he is considered a maestro.

This included a tour of India during the Beatles' sabbatical in the where Shankar's tutoring had to eventually to be continued in the rural areas of the country to avoid the crowds that occurred when it was discovered that the rock star was visiting. Father of musician Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar.