On April 24th, we will be releasing two fantastic recordings from the Ravi Shankar Foundation’s archives.
• Nine Decades Vol. 6: Dutch-India Airwaves
On May 27, 1957 Ravi Shankar (sitar), Chatur Lal (tabla) and Nodu Mallick (tanpura) performed in Amsterdam at the Concertgebouw. It was Shankar’s first appearance as a solo artist in The Netherlands. Though there is no audio of that concert, we are lucky to have this music, recorded earlier in the day at the Radio Netherlands studios in Hilversum as well as an interview with Ravi Shankar, done in both Hindi and English, recorded at a museum in Leiden. As a rare glimpse into Ravi Shankar’s early east-west travels, this installment of the Nine Decades series documents the excitement with which the western and eastern worlds greeted each other through the melodies, improvisations, and rhythmic cycles of Indian classical music. More on Rough Trade. Also see our Catalog Page.
Special thanks to Pieter de Rooij who originally found these recordings in the Radio Netherlands Archives and to the Radio Netherlands Worldwide Foundation for donating this recording to the Ravi Shankar Foundation
• Nine Decades Vol. 7: Live in Copenhagan
Fifteen years after his first international tour, Ravi Shankar is heard here, in 1971, continuing to stun western audiences with the beauty of Indian classical music. Ever the teacher, Shankar doesn’t just perform in his usual stellar fashion, but edifies the audience by walking them through the instruments, their construction and musical capacities, as well as the melodic and rhythmic forms of raga. Shankar displays the ease he is both virtuosic musician, ushering listeners on flights of artistic imagination, and intrepid educator, imparting the modalities and forms behind the beauty that is the four-thousand-year-old tradition of Indian classical music. More on Rough Trade. Also see our Catalog Page.
Music recorded January 14, 1971 at the Falkoner Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark. Special thanks to Claus Rasmussen who brought this amazing audio to our attention and generously donating the material to the Ravi Shankar Foundation.