The classical Indian music tradition - dating back to the Vedas, the oldest Hindu scriptures, and influenced by Muslim Persia - always attracted Hindus and Muslims alike. Yet, in some ways, he was not all that unique. He was a pioneer in other ways well: a world citizen, long before we heard the term, and a multiculturalist - a Hindu who was taught by a Muslim and who later engaged in intercultural and interfaith romances and relationships, some outside the framework of marriage, long before that came into fashion. ![]() ![]() He was shortening the ragas, wrapping up each in 20 minutes or less, whereas you grew up in India listening to classical music concerts for hours, with the alap (opening notes) alone lasting up to 40, 45, 50 minutes.Įven I, no music aficionado, could make out that Shankar’s transitions from the slower to the faster beat were jerky.īut he was playing for his audiences in the West - a trailblazer of world music and fusion that would emerge only years later. ![]() He left most of us in a trance but not before he had jolted my Indian sensibilities. The audience consisted of many hippies and others curious about this Indian who had taught the sitar to George Harrison and played at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, where he was horrified by all the drugs and lovemaking. ![]() It was at Stratford, Ont., in 1968 that I first heard Ravi Shankar.
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