RAVI SHANKAR | THE LIVING ROOM SESSIONS PART 2 | CD AVAILABLE NOW!
East Meets West Music and The Ravi Shankar Foundation Presents
In October 2011, at the seasoned age of 91, Ravi Shankar invited his long-time tabla accompanist, Tanmoy Bose, to his home in Encinitas, California for an informal recording session. Over four days, they worked in Shankar's living room, recording seven different ragas. The resulting music is pure Shankar - a pairing of deep musical experience and brilliant technique performed with the energy and passion he brought to his live concerts. The first four of these sessions, released in 2011, won the Grammy award for Best World Music Album. The Living Room Sessions Part 2 is no less noteworthy and masterly, with three of the last session recordings made by Maestro Ravi Shankar before his death in December 2012. Session Mishra Kafi introduces the set with a beautiful Alaap and Gat in medium tempo Deepchandi Taal. Session Sindhi Bhairavi, with its Gat in Dadra and Teen Taal, highlights the in-depth facility with rhythm and improvisational flow which he and Bose have built over their years performing together. And during the Teen Taal of Session Bhairavi, Shankar's playing is characterized by such intensity, clarity, and delight that it reveals, once more, the Maestro's musical genius as something to reckon with, even in his tenth decade. Orders can be placed here.
RAVI SHANKAR | TENTH DECADE IN CONCERT: LIVE IN ESCONDIDO
East Meets West Music and The Ravi Shankar Foundation Presents
An Alan Kozlowski Film
Cinematographer and director Alan Kozlowski presents an intimate look at a 91-year-old Ravi Shankar performing in southern California in October 2011. Kozlowski, known for his work on documentaries featuring the likes of Jeff Bridges and Jackson Browne as well as feature films such as Travellers and Magicians, offers a uniquely personal perspective on Ravi Shankar. The filmmaker has studied music with Ravi since 1978, and has produced a documentary honoring Ravi called Sangeet Ratna and co-produced with George Harrison a collection of Ravi's work called In Celebration. The love of subject is clear in the film, but it's Ravi's raw and powerful performance that leaves the most lasting impression. Though Ravi has curtailed his busy touring schedule, his playing continues to draw intense praise. Songlines magazine says that the master has lost "absolutely nothing in the way of musical virtuosity, technical brilliance and the kind of high-energy passion that belongs in concert performances." East Meets West Music is proud to release this important testament to a great artist simply unable to stop making transformative music.
Duration: 84 minutesCredits:
Executive Producers Shyama Priya & Cat Celebrezze; Produced, Directed, Captured, & Edited by Alan Kozlowski; Camera work by Ed Auswacks, Grant James, Alan Kozlowski, Kunga, Eric Lawton, & Raymond Steiner; Recorded & Mixed by Steve Postell; Assistant Editor Sven Niemann; Technical Assistance by Ethan Boehme.
Special Thanks to Shekar Viswanathan, Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego (IFAASD), Kerri Welsh, Purna Patnaik, Rob Collier.
Recorded October 9, 2011 at California Center for the Arts in Escondido, CA?
All music composed by Ravi Shankar; all compositions published by Anourag Music via St. Rose Music Publishing (ASCAP)
Ravi Shankar - Sitar
Tanmoy Bose - Tabla
Ravichandra Kulur - Flute, Kanjira
Parimal Sadaphal - Sitar
Samir Chatterjee - Tabla
Kenji Ota - Tanpura, Swarmandal
Barry Phillips - Tanpura
RAVI SHANKAR | THE LIVING ROOM SESSIONS PART 1
In October 2011, at the age of 91, Ravi Shankar invited his long-time tabla accompanist, Tanmoy Bose, to his home in Encinitas, California for an informal recording session. Over four days in Shankar’s living room, they recorded seven different ragas. The resulting music is pure Shankar, combining his deep musical experience and brilliant technique with the passion he brings to live performance. The first of two releases, The Living Room Sessions Part 1, consists of four tracks that span a wide range of Indian classical styles - from the opening Raga Malgunji, a meditative raga reflecting on the distance between the human and the supreme; to the lighter, lyrical Raga Khamaj and Raga Kedara; and closing with Raga Satyajit, a spontaneous raga dedicated to the late director and friend of Shankar, Satyajit Ray, that is both melodic and rhythmic. The seamless musical dialog between Shankar and Bose creates a uniquely stirring listening experience. Both intimate and masterly, The Living Room Sessions Part 1 is an invitation into the home and musical genius of Ravi Shankar. Release of a second recording is scheduled for fall 2012.
This is rather a different recording when, at almost 92 years, I was fooling around at home at Encinitas, California with my sitar, playing pieces with Tanmoy Bose on tabla. We recorded seven ragas in four days and had a lot of fun. This disc has four of those ragas - the first one, Raga Malgunji has both a slow Vilambit gat and a display in Jhaptal of ten beats in complicated, rhythmic patterns and finishes that conveys the sadness of being unable to merge with the Supreme. The second and third ragas, Raga Khamaj and Raga Kedara are in the romantic Thumri style. The final number is a spontaneous, melodic pattern which came to my mind, when I was told about the death of my dear friend Satyajit Ray. For me, the tracks illustrate the depths and beauty of Indian classical music, which can invoke a range of emotional intensity through energetic and complicated rhytmic patterns. I hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I did when I recorded it! - Ravi Shankar
Track Listing:
SESSION 1: RAGA MALGUNJI (17:16)
SESSION 2: RAGA KHAMAJ (18:54)
SESSION 3: RAGA KEDARA (4:44)
SESSION 4: RAGA SATYAJIT (11:30)
RAVI SHANKAR | NINE DECADES: VOLUME 2 | REMINISCENCE OF NORTH VISTA
The second installation of the Nine decades series, Reminiscence of North Vista, is a live recording from a private party at Ravi’s North Vista home in los Angeles on August 29, 1969. Ravi moved to the Hollywood house in 1968 and regularly had parties attended by luminaries such as george Harrison, John lennon, Peter Sellers, Marlon Brando and many others. this recording perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the performances at these gatherings. Recorded just one week after his legendary Woodstock appearance, the set features the Maestro performing two evening ragas with Alla Rakha on tabla (as well as the sounds of crickets and party-goers). this is an unique performance by two artists at the height of their power, performing in an informal setting in front of family and friends.
North Vista is the name of the street in Hollywood where I settled down in mid-1968, a wild time when my fame had ballooned to pop superstar status.... On many occasions at the North Vista house I’d give impromptu concerts, and this is a recording of one of them, played with dear Alla Rakha accompanying me on tabla just one week after we played the Woodstock Music Festival. Unlike our stage performances, it was more relaxed and informal and one can hear the experimental and fun spirit in it.
The first piece is in an evening raga, Kaushik Kanhara, and the second one is also an evening raga, Bihag. In this I have played both Ada Chautal of 14 beats and also a 8 1/2 beat cycle. It was a very special night and I am most happy to share it with you on this recording recently unearthed in my archive. - Ravi Shankar
RAVI SHANKAR | NINE DECADES: VOLUME 3 | ORCHESTRAL EXPERIMENTATIONS | CD
Volume three in the Nine decades series, entitled Orchestral Experimentations, is a set of nine studio tracks featuring Ravi Shankar’s earliest compositional experimentations with his National Orchestra recorded between 1950 and 1954. the orchestra consisted of many of the finest Indian musicians of the period, and in these recordings one senses the excitement Ravi felt at having such resources at his disposal. Not only was Ravi inspired by the players to experiment with orchestration, but he enjoyed the freedom to explore both North and South Indian systems, as well as use some Western technique. Ravi also maintained his natural inclination for improvisation by recording usually within a hour or two of completing the composition.
TRACK LISTING:
1. GORAKH 6 ½
4:18 - Composed by Ravi Shankar • Studio Recording in Delhi, India c. early 1950s
Based on a Raga known as Gorakh Kalyan, the composition is in ‘sadey chhaye’ Tala, a rhythmic cycle of 6 ½ beats.2. SPRING
4:03 - Composed by Ravi Shankar • Studio Recording in Delhi, India c. early 1950s
Based on Raga Vasant, a Raga of the spring season, in Adi Tala, a rhythmic cycle of eight beats divided 4-2-23. ANTARJWALA (BURNING HEART)
4:38 - Composed by Ravi Shankar • Studio Recording in Delhi, India c. early 1950s
A composition portraying agony of a burning heart after being betrayed. It is in a 7 beat cycle.4. DHANA KAUNS
4:20 - Composed by Ravi Shankar • Studio Recording in Delhi, India c. early 1950s
A composition in a pentatonic Raga and carnatic Rupakam Tala of 6 beats.5. BHAIRAVI (MORNING BLOOM)
9:03 - Composed by Ravi Shankar • Studio Recording in Delhi, India c. early 1950s
A composition in a beautiful morning Raga with all the flattened notes. It depicts the starting of a peaceful morning, developing gradually into a busy hubbub of a later morning. It is in a slow and fast Adi Tala of 8 beats.6. CHANCHAL RAJANI
4:20 - Composed by Ravi Shankar • Studio Recording in Delhi, India c. early 1950s
A composition based on Raga Adana and Jhaptal of 10 beats.7. SPRING FEVER
4:24 - Composed by Ravi Shankar • Studio Recording in Delhi, India c. early 1950s
A composition in a Raga known as Bahar of the Spring season, set to Chartal ki Sawari, a cycle of 11 beats.8. RAGA TILANG
4:40 - Composed by Ravi Shankar • Studio Recording in Delhi, India c. early 1950s
A composition in the pentatonic Raga, with both the sevenths in Hindustani Rupak taal of 7 beats.9. JATIL GRANTHI (A TWISTED KNOT)
4:25 - Composed by Ravi Shankar • Studio Recording in Delhi, India c. early 1950s
A composition on Raga Gavati and Adi tala of 8 beats.
RAVI SHANKAR | RAGA: A FILM JOURNEY INTO THE SOUL OF INDIA
Originally released in 1971, Raga: A Journey into the Soul of India documents the life of sitar master Ravi Shankar in the late 1960s and early 1970s, following him on his return to India to revisit his guru, Bengali multi-instrumentalist and composer, Baba Ustad Allauddin Khan. It further explores Shankar’s life as a musician and teacher in the United States and Europe, initiating those in the West to the exceptional world that is Indian classical music and culture. Through rare and candid footage shot in both India and the United States, Raga sheds light on Shankar’s influences and collaborations, from Allauddin Khan to his famed dancer brother Uday Shankar, to his associations with Western musicians Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison. Fully narrated by Shankar himself, Raga reveals music as the soul of India and of Shankar’s life. The premiere DVD release of Raga features a digitally re-mastered 35mm print optimized to modern color range resolution and standard and a fully re-mastered audio soundtrack.
Release Date: 10/14/2010
Produced by East Meets West Music, Inc.
Directed by Howard Worth
Written by Nancy Bacal
Originally produced by Ravi Shankar and Released by George Harrison/Apple Films.
DVD Cover Image by Yousuf Karsh
© the Yousuf Karsh Estate
NTSC
Extras: free digital download soundtrack card
RAVI SHANKAR | RAGA SOUNDTRACK
The digitally available soundtrack to the premiere DVD release of Raga: A Journey into the Soul of India features the live performances captured whiledocumenting the life of sitar master Ravi Shankar in the late 1960s and early 1970s, following him on his return to India to revisit his guru, Bengali multi-instrumentalist and composer, Baba Ustad Allauddin Khan. This soundtrack, fully remastered from the original 1/4" reel to reel tapes, illustrates the truly exceptional range of Indian classical music and Shankar's pre-eminence as a composer. Vedic Hymns celebrates traditional vedic chants conducted by Shankar and performed by temple priests; Baba Teaching allows the listener a glimpse into Shankar's lessons with his guru Baba Ustad Allauddin Khan and is contrasted with Vinus House which captures Shankar in a compositional moment with his own students; Birth to Death offers a unique entry into the sounds of the shahnai (an oboe-like reed instrument) as played at Indian ritual ceremonies; the three tracks The Spirit of the Raga, What is a Raga?, and The Seriousness of It feature narration extras by Ravi Shankar himself; and the track, Raga Desh, delivers a stunning live performance expressing the thrill of improvisation that is the heart of Indian classical music.
Release date: 10/14/2010
The soundtrack is available free via digital download card with purchase of the DVD or purchased separately at all digital retailers.
Track Listing:
1. East/West Introductions (Raga Soundtrack)
2. Dawn To Dusk (Raga Soundtrack)
3. Vedic Hymns (Raga Soundtrack)
4. Baba Teaching (Raga Soundtrack)
5. Birth To Death (Raga Soundtrack)
6. Vinus House (Raga Soundtrack)
7. Gurur Bramha (Raga Soundtrack)
8. United Nations (Raga Soundtrack)
9. Medley: Raga Parameshwari & Raga Rangeshwari (Raga Soundtrack)
10. Banaras Ghat (Raga Soundtrack)
11. Bombay Studio (Raga Soundtrack)
12. Kinnara School (Raga Soundtrack)
13. Frenzy and Distortion (Raga Soundtrack)
14. Raga Desh (Raga Soundtrack)
15. The Spirit of the Raga (Raga Soundtrack)
16. What Is A Raga? (Raga Soundtrack
17. The Seriousness of It (Raga Soundtrack)
RAVI SHANKAR | NINE DECADES VOLUME 1 (1967 - 1968)
Raga Gangeshwari, the centerpiece of Volume 1, takes listeners to an outdoor concert at a temple on the banks of the Ganges in 1968. Though recorded with one hand-held microphone, Raga Gangeshwari is representative of the archive's many treasures, which the artist describes in his liner notes as "not recorded with sophisticated audio equipment and yet they exhibit the power of life in live performance that has a value beyond any technological shortcomings." The intimate quality of the recording and virtuosic playing allows listeners to experience a page from the artist’s diary circa 1968. Raga Gangeshwari is performed with Kamala Chakravarty on tanpura and the great Ustad Alla Rakha on tabla. Also featured on this volume is Vedic chanting by temple priests, as well as audience reactions to an early performance in the West. Nine Decades: Volume 1 CD release was on April 13, 2010, coinciding with Ravi’s 90th birthday month. It is available digitally via all major online retailers, on CD, and on limited edition vinyl, released April 21, 2010.
RAVI SHANKAR | THE NINE DECADES SERIES
The Nine Decades series features rare and never-before released recordings hand-picked by Ravi Shankar from his vast archive and lovingly remastered for optimal listening experience. With live performances and studio recordings pivotal to his development as an artist and reflective of unique times and places, the Nine Decades series provides insightful perspective on a career that spans 70-plus years and offers a direct bridge between the artist himself and his listeners.
UPCOMING
In addition to being the exclusive label for Ravi, EMWMusic will also be releasing the work of artists which Ravi and Anoushka support, work with, and admire; bringing you music that continues the sitar master’s vibrant tradition of exploring new musical terrains.