The Essential Ravi Shankar [Original recording remastered]

Ravi Shankar | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 4, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000AO4NL8
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #117,154 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Introduction to India's Master Musician, March 30, 2006

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Essential Ravi Shankar (Audio CD)

Master musician Ravi Shankar makes the following observations in the opening track, "An introduction to Indian Music" (from 1957's THE SOUNDS OF INDIAN MUSIC): "The improvisation is the highlight in Indian music. The sheer joy of creating on the spot by a musician, always coming back to the main theme in the raga he has chosen is what listeners look forward to....The Western listener will appreciate and enjoy our music if he listens with an open and relaxed mind." And for more than two and a half hours, Shankar takes us on a musical journey that covers five decades of recordings.

Disc 1: Out of the East (74:40)

Most of these tracks are ragas and are taken from his albums of the fifties and sixties. The most recent is "Dhun: Fast Teental" from 1967, the same year Shankar earned both the Billboard Recording Artist and Musician of the year honors. All tracks feature a small ensemble with Shankar accompanied only by tabla and tambura (and sarod on "Raga Palas Kafi)."

Disc 2: Into the West (78:29)

The tracks on this disc feature Shankar in collaboration with Western musicians. "Swara-Kakali" features famed violinist Yehudi Menuhin. "Discovery of India" is from the soundtrack album GHANDI, for which Shankar received an Oscar nomination for best score. There are two tracks from 1990's PASSAGES, which teamed Shankar with minimalist composer Phillip Glass. "Ragas in Minor Scale" features Shankar's ensemble playing a Glass composition, while "Offering" has Glass's ensemble performing a Shankar composition (the only track that Shankar does not perform on).

And, of course, it's only fitting that Shankar's most famous disciple be included. No fewer than three tracks feature George Harrison on autoharp: "Village Dance," "Memory of Uday" (Harrison also plays synthesizer on these two tracks), and "Friar Park." In addition, Harrison produced "Vandanaa Trayee."

This is a solid introduction to the music of India's best known musical ambassador. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to the legendary musician, February 4, 2006

By 

Triniman "Triniman" (Winnipeg, MB) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Ravi Shankar (Audio CD)

Into his 6th decade as a professional musician, 85 year-old Pandit Ravi Shankar is sometimes described as the father of world music and, "...his genius and his humanity can only be compared to that of Mozart's," according to Yehudi Menuhin. His impact on the music world, with his 90-something recordings and decades of touring, including sold out shows during his current tour, is absolutely immense. If there's someone else currently alive who has been an influential virtuoso for as long, I can not think of their name. Miles Davis would have been close but he passed away 1991. I'm also disappointed to see that on his upcoming tour, he's playing several Canadian cities, but not Winnipeg, where I live! He's selling out 2000 seat concert halls and could easily do the same here.

This two-CD set is actually more thoughtfully compiled than I imagined. Among my favorite recordings of his would be the 1990 album "Passages" - a true desert island recording - with Phillip Glass (1937). I assumed that album was too esoteric to be represented here, but it is, by two selections on disc 2. Disc 1, entitled "Out Of The East", features mostly ragas, spanning the decade from 1957 - 1967, from notable albums such as "The Sounds of India" (1954), "The Genius of Ravi Shankar" (1957) and "India's Master Musician" (1963.) "Into The West" is the title of disc 2 and it's 13 tracks, not surprisingly, feature Shankar performing with the likes of violinist Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999), George Harrison (1943-2001), guitarist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and minimalist composer Phillip Glass.

I happen to like the traditional ragas but also the newer, easier-to-digest material, such as the George Harrison collaboration "Village Dance" from 1987's "Tana Mana."

At the beginning of disc 1, Ravi Shankar narrates a 5 minute introduction to Indian classical music and at the end suggests best how western listeners can enjoy it.

What I like about the music on disc 2 is, I will shamelessly admit, the ease of remembering the music and being able to identify it during subsequent listens. Some of the tracks have taken on a soundtrack feel to them, which will not please those who prefer traditional ragas.

By and large, you don't listen to Indian classical music hoping to get the same experience as you would from most other forms of music, including European classical music. You let yourself get lost in the experience, the journey, and forget about repetition and familiarity. You can listen to a 15 minute raga and hear something new each time. The music is too rich to be absorbed in one listening and there's no way you can pick up your instrument of choice and repeat the entire raga that you have just listened to. For those with a fertile mind, the melodies are truly heaven sent.

I'm always skeptical when record companies package compilations since they are rarely completely satisfying with their obvious omissions and inclusions of new but usually weak material. Columbia has tackled Ravi Shankar with a liberal representation of his works, but it won't necessarily please everyone. For those with broad tastes who are not Shankar experts, it's a great collection to have. Included in the liner notes is a brief but enjoyable article by Hank Bordowitz.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sitar Master, March 3, 2006

By 

J. Merritt - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Ravi Shankar (Audio CD)

This collection offers an accessible way to experience the works of Ravi Shankar, the man most responsible for what awareness there is in the West of Indian classical music traditions. The two-disc set is quite expansive: Disc one features pieces from 1957 to Shankar's Western "breakthrough" at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, while disc two features 13 tracks from 1967 to 1990. Highlights include: "Swara-Kakali," an impassioned instrumental duet that Shankar recorded with violinist Yehudi Menuhin in 1967; "Dhun: Fast Teental," an excerpt from his legendary performance at Monterey; several pieces from his work with George Harrison, including "Village Dance" and "Friar's Park;" and the delightful opening track on which Shankar himself introduces some of the basic elements of Indian classical style.

Harrison declared Shankar the "Godfather of world music," as the back of the CD indicates, and this collection is a perfect testament to why that's true. While the form may not be to everyone's taste here in the West, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more affordable entree into--or a more skilled ambassador of--this beautiful musical heritage.