Ananda Shankar | |
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| Born | Ananda Shankar (1942-12-11)11 December 1942 |
| Died | 26 March 1999(1999-03-26) (aged 56) |
| Genres | World music |
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Ananda Shankar (11 December 1942 – 26 March 1999) was anIndiansitar player, singer, and composer whose music blendedWestern andEastern musical styles.[1][2] He was married to dancer and choreographerTanusree Shankar.[3]
Born inAlmora,Uttar Pradesh (now inUttarakhand), North India, Shankar was the son ofAmala Shankar andUday Shankar, who were dancers ofBengali heritage, and also the nephew of sitar playerRavi Shankar. He studied inThe Scindia School,Gwalior.[4] Ananda did not learn sitar from his uncle but studied instead withLalmani Misra atBanaras Hindu University.[4] He was married to Tanushree Shankar, who was herself a dancer, with whom he had a daughter namedSreenanda, who is now an actress an dancer. He died in Kolkata on 26 March 1999 aged 56 from cardiac failure.[5]
In the late 1960s, Shankar travelled to Los Angeles, where he played with many contemporary musicians includingJimi Hendrix. There he was signed toReprise Records and released his first album,Ananda Shankar, in 1970, with originalIndian classical material alongsidesitar-based cover versions of popular hits,The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" andThe Doors' "Light My Fire". The album is included in the book1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[6]
Returning to India in the early 1970s, Shankar continued to experiment musically and in 1975 released his album,Ananda Shankar and His Music, ajazz-funk mix of Easternsitar, Western rock guitar,tabla andmridangam, drums andMoog synthesizers. Out of print for many years, the album was re-released on CD in 2005.[7]
After working in India during the late 1970s and 1980s, Shankar's profile in the West began to rise again in the mid-1990s as his music found its way into club DJ sets, particularly in London.[8] His music was brought to a wider audience with the release ofBlue Note Records' 1996rare groove compilation album,Blue Juice Vol. 1., including two tracks fromAnanda Shankar and His Music, "Dancing Drums" and "Streets of Calcutta".[9]
In the late 1990s, Shankar worked and toured in the United Kingdom with the London DJState of Bengal and others, a collaboration that resulted in theWalking On album, featuring Shankar's trademark sitar soundscapes mixed withbreakbeat andhip hop.Walking On was released in 2000 after Shankar's death the previous year.[10]
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