Ananda Shankar was pioneer in the field of fusion in India. He was the first composer to blend Indian and Western music forms and create his own distinctive style. His music broke barriers of generations, nations, cultures and races. Composer Ananda Shankar's music was literally universal in its approach and appeal.
Ananda Shankar Early Life
Ananda Shankar was the son of Uday Shankar and Amala Shankar both legends in Indian dance forms. He was born in December 1942 in Almora, a hill-station in Uttaranchal. Pandit Ravi Shankar, the sitar maestro is his uncle. Ananda Shankar took his sitar training from Dr. Lalmani Misra in Varanasi.
Ananda Shankar Achievements
Sitarist Ananda Shankar started his career in Los Angeles in 1960. His interaction with foreign musicians like Jimi Hendrix helped in
creating fusion music using rock guitar, the sitar, the tabla, drums, mridangam, and synthesizer. His first album was released by Reprise
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Records in 1970.
His creations include Jumpin Jack Flash, Rolling Stones, Streets of Calcutta, The Alien, Radha, Storm, Night in the Forest, Anjali, Exploration, Cyrus, Indrasabha, Dancing Drums, Renunciation, The River, Back Home, Jungle Symphony, Charging Tiger, Celebration, Universal Magic and Missing You.
Unlike traditional compositions, the compositions of Ananda Shankar were of shorter durations and lively. Listeners who were apathetic to Indian classical music started to develop a liking for this variety of music. The appeal of Ananda Shankar's music was universal in the literal sense of the term.
The universal acceptability of his music earned him the distinction of creating the welcome theme music for the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi. It was titled 'Suswagatam.'
Ananda Shankar alongwith his wife Tanushree Shankar set up the Ananda Shankar Foundation in Kolkata for furthering the course on fusion in music and dance. His untimely death in 1999 created a vacuum in the musical world.
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