Review on Amazon.com by Steve Vrana
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
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