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Mar 31st 2010
East Meets West Music Releases "Nine Decades: Vol. 1 (1967-68)"
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The label's debut release celebrates Ravi Shankar’s 90th birthday on April 7, 2010
New York, NY - East Meets West Music, the official label of the Ravi Shankar Foundation, is pleased to announce that its inaugural release, Nine Decades: Volume 1, will be available on April 13 (with April 21 marking the release of the limited-edition vinyl version).
The Nine Decades series features rare and never-before released recordings hand-picked by Ravi Shankar from his vast archive and lovingly remastered for an optimum 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 is a direct bridge between the artist himself and his listeners.
Ravi Shankar
Nine Decades: Volume 1 (1967-68)
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 archives 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.
East Meets West Music
East Meets West Music is the official recording label of The Ravi Shankar Foundation. With unique access to an archive featuring thousands of hours of live performance audio, film footage, interviews, and studio masters, EMWMusic releases recordings of superior quality, and provides audiences with the definitive portrait of Ravi Shankar’s long career. And, in keeping with Ravi’s dedication to looking forward and not back, EMWMusic provides a vibrant platform for new artists, projects, and collaborations.
The name of the label, East Meets West, points to the Shankar philosophy of exploration, experimentation and cross-pollination. The vast archive features performances and appearances by an extraordinarily eclectic cast of musicians from across the globe. This new label continues in the long tradition of open-mindedness and curiosity that has been a hallmark of Ravi’s work.
The Nine Decades series will feature rare live performances hand-picked by Ravi. The series will focus decade by decade on performances that are particularly meaningful to the artist himself. In the fall of 2010, EMWMusic will release the George Harrison produced documentary on Ravi, called Raga. The soundtrack to the film will also be available.
The newly launched website, EastMeetsWestMusic.com, features release updates and performance information for both Ravi and Anoushka Shankar.
Nine Decades: Volume 1
LINER NOTES
What can East Meets West Music do that the other labels have not? It is a simple question that my family and I answered with a resounding, "Everything!" Our motivation was simple: In the last few decades I've seen various recording companies releasing my music with little or no input from me – repackaging releases with new art work and new titles and effectively misusing the public’s trust. In the worst instances, my ragas have been sold as generic 'new age' mental and physical well-being potions, a tactic that ignores the classical musical form in which these ragas were composed and erases the history that lives in each. Except for the compositions Shanti Mantra and Hey Nath, and the release Chants of India, produced by George Harrison, all my music has been recorded within this traditional art form – a musical language I love and continue to study. With the help of my family and a few friends we launched East Meets West Music to once again bring this beautiful art form to the world. With this label we can continue to bring you my music and introduce to you the work of young musicians who share with me a philosophical respect for this spiritual mode of musical composition. It is with love that, as I complete my ninth decade and step into my tenth, I undertake this endeavor and I hope I can do justice to all the love and faith you have showered on me.
The Nine Decades series focuses on live performances, some recorded in public and others recorded in private, at home, so as to give you a glimpse of the life in a raga as it is performed for others. Many of these treasures were 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. Volume 1 features one such performance - a very special raga entitled Raga Gangeshwari. When I was on site for the filming of 'Raga' in 1968 and on the river Ganges, the pattern of this Raga came spontaneously in my mind like many of the authentic ragas. It was recorded early in the morning in a Temple near Allahabad. It is a swara bhed raga, born by shifting the tonic of a particular raga and creating a new work from an old one as follows:
S G M P D N S
S N D P M G S
Gangeshwari belongs, along with Kameshwari and Jogeshwari, to my original Raga Parameshwari, which I created in the early 1960s. On this recording, it is performed with Kamala Chakravarty on Tanpura and Ustad Alla Rakha on Tabla - one of the greatest Tabla players from the Punjab Gharana. His is a style both rhythmically complex as well as being lyrical and romantic. What Allah Rakha added to this tradition was his cherubic and happy personality which you can hear in this performance. He accompanied me in my travels all over the world for more than twenty-five years and I loved him very much. I hope you can hear him, the River Ganges, and the deep tradition that is Indian live performance in this recording I now share with you.
- Ravi Shankar, Delhi, India, February 2010
* * *
LINKS
www.eastmeetswestmusic.com
www.ravishankar.org
www.anoushkashankar.com
East Meets West Music Releases "Nine Decades: Vol. 1 (1967-68)"
Share this article!
|
New York, NY - East Meets West Music, the official label of the Ravi Shankar Foundation, is pleased to announce that its inaugural release, Nine Decades: Volume 1, will be available on April 13 (with April 21 marking the release of the limited-edition vinyl version).
The Nine Decades series features rare and never-before released recordings hand-picked by Ravi Shankar from his vast archive and lovingly remastered for an optimum 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 is a direct bridge between the artist himself and his listeners.
Ravi Shankar
Nine Decades: Volume 1 (1967-68)
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 archives 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.
East Meets West Music
East Meets West Music is the official recording label of The Ravi Shankar Foundation. With unique access to an archive featuring thousands of hours of live performance audio, film footage, interviews, and studio masters, EMWMusic releases recordings of superior quality, and provides audiences with the definitive portrait of Ravi Shankar’s long career. And, in keeping with Ravi’s dedication to looking forward and not back, EMWMusic provides a vibrant platform for new artists, projects, and collaborations.
The name of the label, East Meets West, points to the Shankar philosophy of exploration, experimentation and cross-pollination. The vast archive features performances and appearances by an extraordinarily eclectic cast of musicians from across the globe. This new label continues in the long tradition of open-mindedness and curiosity that has been a hallmark of Ravi’s work.
The Nine Decades series will feature rare live performances hand-picked by Ravi. The series will focus decade by decade on performances that are particularly meaningful to the artist himself. In the fall of 2010, EMWMusic will release the George Harrison produced documentary on Ravi, called Raga. The soundtrack to the film will also be available.
The newly launched website, EastMeetsWestMusic.com, features release updates and performance information for both Ravi and Anoushka Shankar.
Nine Decades: Volume 1
LINER NOTES
What can East Meets West Music do that the other labels have not? It is a simple question that my family and I answered with a resounding, "Everything!" Our motivation was simple: In the last few decades I've seen various recording companies releasing my music with little or no input from me – repackaging releases with new art work and new titles and effectively misusing the public’s trust. In the worst instances, my ragas have been sold as generic 'new age' mental and physical well-being potions, a tactic that ignores the classical musical form in which these ragas were composed and erases the history that lives in each. Except for the compositions Shanti Mantra and Hey Nath, and the release Chants of India, produced by George Harrison, all my music has been recorded within this traditional art form – a musical language I love and continue to study. With the help of my family and a few friends we launched East Meets West Music to once again bring this beautiful art form to the world. With this label we can continue to bring you my music and introduce to you the work of young musicians who share with me a philosophical respect for this spiritual mode of musical composition. It is with love that, as I complete my ninth decade and step into my tenth, I undertake this endeavor and I hope I can do justice to all the love and faith you have showered on me.
The Nine Decades series focuses on live performances, some recorded in public and others recorded in private, at home, so as to give you a glimpse of the life in a raga as it is performed for others. Many of these treasures were 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. Volume 1 features one such performance - a very special raga entitled Raga Gangeshwari. When I was on site for the filming of 'Raga' in 1968 and on the river Ganges, the pattern of this Raga came spontaneously in my mind like many of the authentic ragas. It was recorded early in the morning in a Temple near Allahabad. It is a swara bhed raga, born by shifting the tonic of a particular raga and creating a new work from an old one as follows:
S G M P D N S
S N D P M G S
Gangeshwari belongs, along with Kameshwari and Jogeshwari, to my original Raga Parameshwari, which I created in the early 1960s. On this recording, it is performed with Kamala Chakravarty on Tanpura and Ustad Alla Rakha on Tabla - one of the greatest Tabla players from the Punjab Gharana. His is a style both rhythmically complex as well as being lyrical and romantic. What Allah Rakha added to this tradition was his cherubic and happy personality which you can hear in this performance. He accompanied me in my travels all over the world for more than twenty-five years and I loved him very much. I hope you can hear him, the River Ganges, and the deep tradition that is Indian live performance in this recording I now share with you.
- Ravi Shankar, Delhi, India, February 2010
* * *
LINKS
www.eastmeetswestmusic.com
www.ravishankar.org
www.anoushkashankar.com
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