Customer Reviews

India's Master Musician

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
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The recent release of this recording on CD was greatly anticipated and is highly appreciated. I would suggest that this CD be the first place to start if you are interested in discovering (or rediscovering) the virtuoso "picking" of Ravi Shankar.

I wish I could have all of the "REMASTERED CDs" that have been released now and perhaps one day I will. But this was the first one I got which started off my Ravi Shankar collection. This is an excellent CD because it gives you five completely different raags including a "dhun" and a "thumri" style. What is great about these old recordings is that Panditji has condensed every raag in a shorter version of a fully blown concert which is usually about an hour long.
Listening to Puriya Dhanashri one is automatically taken to an evening setting. My favourite in this CD is the raag "Charu Keshi" I haven't experienced such a beautiful introduction to a raag, there is so much in the first five or six seconds of this piece that I could hear just that again and again.
If you hear any poor digital remastering, you are not paying attention.

if you like indian music you must have this album. All sounds (citar and anothers) are amaizing and those lead you to a great ficticious trip to Indian... excellent album!

"India's Master Musician" is a showcase for Shankar at his fiery best. Like other reviewers have commented, if you buy this CD for meditation purposes or as background music you're going to be severely disappointed, because on this CD, to use a bit of guitarist slang, Ravi "shreds" unapologetically. He obviously is in control of his instrument here and wants to show it. Yet he does so without sacrificing taste and style.

This would be a great CD to introduce someone to Indian classical music. And strange as it may sound, anyone who is a fan of jam bands or jazz improvisation should immediately connect to this. The music here, although coming from only three instruments, shows a lot of pure energy but is also quite subtle. You can listen to this and get something out of it on a lot of levels.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in exploring Indian music, or Ravi Shankar, for the first time. The (relatively) short pieces combined with the high energy level and the excellence of performance make for a must-have recording for anyone.

I have almost all of the cd's in the Ravi Shankar collection. And this is by far my favorite. Most of the disc is up-tempo, so it's not a album for meditation. This cd has alot of energy and Chatur Lal on tabla is amazing. This one's a mainstay in my cd player.

This is what BoratBrother has to say in his youtube upload of track 3 Mishra Piloo:

"A veritable gem..with virtuoso tabla of Chatur Lal recorded in 1963 ....the majestic start ...the meandering melody thus reconditions the soul inculcating in it a certain sense of levitation.. imbued with divinity..a kind of mantra..a dialogue with God...elevates you to Nirvana ..leads you to Valhalla and firmly deposits you there sempiternally...tabla solo in the middle ( 5:51 to 8:44) by Chatur Lal is simply mesmerizing! And 8:44 to 10-45 is probably one of the best and perfect sitar/tabla rapport ( jugalbandi) of all time! Don't miss 5:22 to 6:35 sitar engages in a dialogue with tabla then fades gracefully to make way for tabla solo....if there ever was a magical music tour this is it....Ravi Shankar and Chatur Lal here transport you to a world where music is redefined.....transforming even the banal into a source of wonder.... and wonderment..."

Need I say more? Best enjoyed eyes closed and lights out...

Beautiful music! Shankar is a true sitar genius. However the sound quality isn't that great for being digitally remastered. Be wary of a prominent hiss left from the original analog tape.

Sitting and listening to Ravi Shankar is, I would guess, like listening to one's guru, except instead of words, you have music as the communicator. Now, I have never had and probably never will have a guru, but I do get a feeling that I would indeed think is similar to sitting in your guru's presence.

However, this particular set is indeed energizing and much better suited for serious listening, but not for meditation. An hour spent in this musical master's presence is still intensely rewarding. It does help to have a basic understanding of what to expect and listen to in music of India, but if you are tuned into the sound of the sitar, no more is truly necessary.

Scholars or just plain ordinary music-lovers like myself can very much appreciate and enjoy this music.

I agree with the other reviewers that the quality of this CD is a little disappointing, however, it does deliver the genius of Ravi Shankar as the title indicates.

I wanted to write this review mostly to let other prospective buyers know that all the pieces are VERY up-tempo and intense. I bought this CD to set a mostly tranquil mood for meditation and yoga and for that purpose I would not recommend it.