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ECHOES FEATURE SPECIAL: Indian Echoes

Indian music seems to be in the air once again. Between mantra chant CDs, the Midival Punditz and Echoes' CD of the Month for July, Vedic Path, the twang and drone of India is everywhere. So there's no better time to take a passage to India with some Echoes features from the archive that highlight the history of modern Indian music from Ravi Shankar to Sheila Chandra. In this collection we hear musicians expanding their musical horizons while maintaining fidelity to their traditions. John Diliberto

Indian Fusions - Raga Reveries Since Ravi Shankar came to America in the 1960s, the strains of Indian music have suffused the west. Now, forty years later, those strains have taken some unusual forms, from the fusion of Jai Uttal, to the vocal stylings of Sheila Chandra. It's a long way from "raga-rock" as we return to this program from 1993 to hear some raga reveries. (coming soon)

Ravi & Anoushka Shankar Ragas Across Generations (2001) At age 85, Ravi Shankar, the venerable Indian sitarist, is an icon of Indian music. Anoushka Shankar is his 23 year old daughter. Studying at the feet of her father, she's become a master musician herself with her albums of music, ANOUSHKA and ANOURAG. In 2001, the father and daughter duo talked about the art of the raga and a music spirit that moves from Hinduism to Goa Trance.

listen>>(approx 7 minutes)

Zakir Hussain Magic Fingers (1991) Zakir Hussain is the virtuoso Indian tabla player who can be found playing with Ali Akbar Khan and Hariprasad Chaurasia one day, and Kitaro or the Grateful Dead the next. Going way back in our archive to 1991, we listen as Hussain talked about his percussion ensemble, The Rhythm Experience and Mickey Hart's Planet Drum. listen>>(approx 7 minutes)

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Sheila Chandra's Magnified Drones (1996)

For Sheila Chandra, the universal sound of music is found in the drone, a steady state organic sound from which the attentive listener can draw an orchestra of possibilities. Using this fabric, she wove several albums, including 1996's ABONECRONEDRONE. We spoke with Chandra about her rarified sound world on Echoes. listen>> (approx 7 minutes)

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Shakti's Deja Vu (1999) John McLaughlin Shakti was an all acoustic Indian fusion group put together by John McLaughlin in the 1970s. Much loved and highly influential, in 1999 McLaughlin reformed the band and recorded a double live CD, REMEMBER SHAKTI. That same year, we talked with McLaughlin and tabla player Zakir Hussain about Indian improvisations and universal music. listen>>> (about 7 min.)

Najma Love Songs from the East (1993)

Najma was a darling of the world beat crowd in the early 90s, with her albums QAREEB and ATISH, that brought modern jazz rhythms to Indian ghazeels. Her 1993 album, PUKAR found the young singer pushing the form with more erotic textures and improvised melodies. In the London home she shared with her manager/mother and father, she talked about her music and sat down at the harmonium for a tune. listen>>> (about 7 min.)

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