Ananda Shankar’s self-titled debut, Ananda Shankar.

In the previous incarnation of this blog this was my second review but this time I have made it the first.

Considering it was released in 1970, this album is 48 years old today. Even before the albums from Shakti (the John McLaughlin, L Shankar, Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayakram group), Illayaraja’s fusion music or any others from India or the West, there was Ananda Shankar, the self titled debut from sitar-great Ravi Shankar’s nephew Ananda Shankar.
Normally when people in the west speak of the sitar, Ravi Shankar is the first name that comes to everyone’s minds and lips (maybe nowadays his daughter Anoushka). Ravi Shankar had played Woodstock and any one associated with the original Woodstock has already become a part of rock n roll history. Ananda Shankar, Ravi Shankar’s nephew did not play Woodstock but in my opinion besides Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation (TM), Hare Rama Hare Krishna (organization and mantra) and the Sitar this album from Ananda Shankar is in many ways, one of India’s finest contribution to exploding rock ‘n’ roll scene.

Released in 1970 this is no elevator music. Normally even what is played as elevator music from Ananda Shankar is not from this album anyway. Because if it were, the first things that would come to a listener’s mind are the questions, Who is this? What music is this, and such. Many Indians who speak of Ananda Shankar’s music will only recall his contributions for the Asiad Games in the 80’s, or later the music for the exercise motivation show Bharathiyam. This album certainly features no such stuff. This album is probably the earliest experiment in fusion using rock music and the sitar. It is fusion at its very best. A lovely melting pot of cover versions of popular rock songs, melody, harmony and music for the “meditator”. The Moog synthesizer, a great innovation in rock music and a novelty at that time is used on the album too. Ananda then smitten by the music of the The Rolling Stones and The Doors does cover versions of two big hits, one each of the two bands.

The album begins with a neat cover of The Rolling Stones’ hit “Jumping Jackflash”, the only other song where you hear vocals, this time a chorus screaming “Jumping Jackflash”. When the sitar sets in you’ll be blown away. From then on the entire album is a beautiful fusion of the sitar with drums and percussion, bass, guitars and the Moog.

“Jumping Jackflash” is followed by “Snow Flower”, obviously the sweetest song on the album where Ananda plays some very melodious sitar.

Time for another rock classic. This time, cover of “Light my fire” from The Doors. This is followed by “Mamata (Affection)”, another soft beautiful number setting the prelude for the heavy and lovely fusion number “Metamorphosis” featuring a long and fiery solo by Ananda.

“Sagar” or the ocean provides the meditative rest after “Metamorphosis”. It is the longest song on the album, a 13 min treat to the sound of ocean waves in the background, perfect for your Yoga or meditation. Now here’s some Trivia. Just as the song ends, increase the volume on your amplifier and you’ll hear Ananda Shankar’s voice saying ‘Very Long Song’.

“Dance Indra” is a mellow filler.

Finally you get to hear the man himself on “Raghupathi Raghava”. Reminiscent of the way “Hey Jude” ends but Ananda’s song is beautiful in its own inimitable way. When the Ghana based “Osibisa” toured India in the early 80’s they took inspiration from this Ananda Shankar song to make their own cover version which they used as their opening number for their performance here in Chennai.

The Personnel on the album: Ananda Shankar (sitar), Dick Rosmini, Drake Levin (guitars), Paul Lewinson (keyboards, Moog synthesizer), Jerry Scheff, Mark Tulin (bass guitar), Michael Botts, Joe Pollard (drums), Pranish Khan (tabla).

Final words –
Ananda did not learn to play the Sitar from his world famous uncle but becoming a sitarist like his uncle was not his only objective in life. Being the son of the famous dance couple of Uday Shankar and Amala it came as no surprise when Ananda and his wife Tanushree, an accomplished dancer herself, formed the famous Ananda Shankar Institute of Fine Arts. Ananda also wrote scripts, directed and handled lighting for his troupe’s shows.

Ananda Shanker passed away in 1999.

Building heavily on the legacy left behind by his parents Uday and Amala, Tanushree choreographed some of the most beautiful dances to Ananda’s music that I have ever seen. These dances are an amalgamation of all classical dances and folk dances from India. Like me if you are bored of the classical dance forms from India (I guess you need both the taste and the ear for classical music to appreciate them, I seem to like Kathak somehow) then dances by Tanushree and her dancers are the ones you must watch. In 1983, I had the privilege of watching Ananda, his band, Tanushree and their dance troupe perform at the Mardi Gras  (Now Saarang) cultural festival at IIT Madras. It was and probably will be the best live show I have ever seen at the O.A.T (Open Air Theatre) at IIT Madras. Ananda even mentioned how his father played a part in the construction of the OAT. Ideally the 1983 performance was divided into two parts. For the first half it was with the dancers performing to the music. For the second half, the band was on stage with Ananda conducting the band and Tanushree and her dancers performing in front of them, a veritable audiovisual treat! However in the show in the 90’s it was just the dancers and the recorded music played in the background.

I had the privilege of meeting his wife Tanushree in 2014 when she and her troupe performed one of their newer creations at the Kalakshetra in Chennai. We did have a quick chat about the concerts at the the IIT, Madras.Here’s me with the legendary dancer.

Myself with Tanushree Shankar

The link to the post on my personal blog is here.

I’ll be reviewing more of Ananda’s lovely music on this blog, so watch this space.  Sample the songs from the album below. I have made two playlists (one of the first three songs) followed by two legal uploads of the songs on YouTube and finally another playlist of the last three songs of the album.