How Pandit Ravi Shankar will be remembered

  [caption id=“attachment_554760” align=“alignleft” width=“940”]  Zakir Hussain: He took music from the closely guarded world of the palace court to a more open interactive way of playing. He was forward thinking. He had the advantage of having been educated in the west. He had a greater world view than most Indian musicians. My father (Allah Rakha) and he were a pair that was the face of Indian music for a long time. People were astounded when they realised the sitar player was not the only musician on stage. Ravi-ji really enjoyed the rhythmic interplay. I remember when my father died, Raviji chartered a plane to fly into Bombay just in time for the burial. He must have been 79 himself.
Tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain cofounded Shakti. Pic: AFP[/caption]   [caption id=“attachment_554767” align=“alignleft” width=“940”]  Mamata Shankar: What I appreciate best about him is he always acknowledges my father. He always says Uday Shankar is a super duper star. Kaka keeps him and Baba Alauddin Khan in a special place – they are his gods. That makes me feel very proud. I think what makes Kaka and Baba unique is the spirituality in their dance and music. When Baba danced on stage he was god. When Kaka gets on stage with his instrument in hand he is lost in another world.
Actor and dancer Mamata Shankar heads the Mamata Shankar Dance Company in Kolkata.[/caption]   [caption id=“attachment_554773” align=“alignleft” width=“940”]  David Murphy: Ultimately rather than fusion, I believe he created music that speaks equally to performers and listeners from East or West. One of the means of doing this is to give Western musicians ragas to play that have notes in common with the modes of Western music. Through Ravi Shankar’s approach, musicians from both traditions are able to find common ground immediately. A good example would be Khamaj which is used prominently in the Concerto No 1 for Sitar and Orchestra.
Welsh conductor David Murphy is the founder of Sinfonia Verdi. Pic: AFP[/caption]   [caption id=“attachment_554777” align=“alignleft” width=“940”]  Vishwa Mohan Bhatt: When the proposal (for collaboration) first came from Ry Cooder I was not sure. Then I looked at my guru and said I would do it. If an artist can combine with other streams of music he should go for it. Not all can. I did it keeping him in mind. When Guruji heard my music he only commented that when the mohan veena comes on it is so relaxing.
Grammy winning artist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt plays the Mohan Veena.[/caption]   [caption id=“attachment_554780” align=“alignleft” width=“940”]  Kaveri Shankar: I remember landing in India. Maybe I was a little naïve about how famous he is. Here (in the US) he is famous but in India everyone knows him. I got off the plane and an assistant had come to pick me up. He said, “You are in the newspaper.” I was like why am I in the newspaper? I am just visiting my grandfather. My favorite memory of him though is the time we all went to Universal Studio together for the first time. I know it seems silly but it’s a nice memory. It’s just something you do with your grandfather.
Kaveri Shankar is a Bharatanatyam dancer and granddaughter of Ravi Shankar.[/caption]   [caption id=“attachment_554796” align=“alignleft” width=“940”]  Karsh Kale: Anoushka had told me that he had initially requested that I come to the house as he wanted to practice and needed some tabla accompaniment. This was enough to make me very nervous. I don’t even remember what I played, but I do remember it not being so impressive at first. He then began to recite tabla compositions to me. At first they were such that I could play what he was reciting, but soon it became that I had to write them down.
In 2007 Karsh Kale collaborated with Anoushka Shankar to create Breathing Under Water.[/caption]   [caption id=“attachment_554786” align=“alignleft” width=“940”]  Barry Philips: I have a cello made by Krishna Mondal in Calcutta. It’s a cello with 11 sympathetic strings. But he said he preferred the regular cello. “I want warm cello,” he told me. “This sounds like a cello with a sitar inside it.” When I was working on my Eight Raagas piece, he heard a rough CD. The main thing he said was when you make compositional decisions try to make them sound like your music, not mine. I understand, though I guess I am also trying to pay tribute.
Cellist and composer Barry Philips assisted Ravi Shankar in the composition of pieces for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and the Concert for George[/caption]   [caption id=“attachment_554802” align=“alignleft” width=“940”]  Pandit Ravi Shankar: Though I have lived a life full of beauty, pleasure and pain, unlike movie or pop stars, I do not like to talk about them. Having a super creative mind, I do feel at times I have not accomplished all the things I wanted to. I always want to do more and cannot rest on my laurels. I am grateful to my guru, god and good fortune for all the awards I’ve received, no matter how big or small. Getty Images[/caption]