Ananda Shankar (11 December 1942 - 26 March 1999) was an Bengali musician best known for fusing Western and Eastern musical styles. He was married to Tanushree Shankar.
Early life
Born in Almora in Uttar Pradesh, India, Shankar was the son of Amala and Uday Shankar, popular dancers, and also the nephew of renowned sitarist Ravi Shankar. Ananda did not learn sitar from his uncle but studied instead with Dr. Lalmani Misra in Varanasi.
Professional career
In the late 1960s Shankar travelled to Los Angeles, where he played with many contemporary musicians including Jimi Hendrix. There he was signed to Reprise Records and released his first self-titled album in 1970, featuring original Indian classical material alongside sitar-based cover versions of popular hits such as The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "The Doors' "Light My Fire". This album has become an enduring cult classic.
Returning to India in the early 1970s Shankar continued to experiment musically and in 1975 released his most critically acclaimed album, Ananda Shankar And His Music, a jazz-funk mix of Eastern sitar, Western rock guitar, tabla and mridangam, drums and Moog synthesizers. Out of print for many years, Ananda Shankar And His Music was re-released on CD in 2005.
After working in India during the late 1970s and 1980s, Shankar's profile in the West began to rise again in the mid-1990s as his music found its way into club DJ sets, particularly in London. His music was brought to a wider audience with the release of Blue Note Records' popular 1996 rare groove compilation album, Blue Juice Vol. 1. , featuring the two standout tracks from Ananda Shankar And His Music , "Dancing Drums" and "Streets Of Calcutta".
In the late 1990s Shankar worked and toured in the United Kingdom with London DJ State of Bengal and others, a collaboration that would result in the Walking On album, featuring Shankar's trademark sitar soundscapes mixed with breakbeat and hip hop. Walking On was released in 2000 after Shankar's sudden death from heart failure the year before.
In 2005, his song Raghupati was used on the Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories soundtrack, and in 2008 his song Dancing Drums was used on the LittleBigPlanet soundtrack.
Discography
- Ananda Shankar , 1970 (LP, Reprise 6398)
- Ananda Shankar , 1970 (CD, Collectors' Choice CCM-545)
- Ananda Shankar And His Music , 1975 (EMI India)
- Missing You , 1977 (EMI India)
- A Musical Discovery of India , 1978 (EMI India)
- Sa-Re-Ga Machan , 1981 (EMI India)
- 2001 , 1984 (EMI India)
- Ananda , 1999 (EMI India)
- Arpan , 2000 (EMI India)
- Walking On , 2000 (Real World 48118-2, with State of Bengal)
- Ananda Shankar: A Life in Music - The Best of the EMI Years , 2005 (Times Square TSQ-CD-9052)
- Ananda Shankar: Shubh- The Auspicious , 1995
Grand Theft Auto:Liberty City Stories
His singing voice is heard in the game Grand Theft Auto:Liberty City Stories in the radio station Radio del Mundo. The song he's singing there is Raghupati
Ananda Shankar - Ananda Shankar Foundation - Ananda Shankar : :
THE LEGACY Ananda Sankar (1942 – 1999) Son of Uday and Amala Shankar, Ananda, in the words of a critic, “was an original musician of the word before the term world music was ...
Amazon.com: Ananda Shankar: Ananda Shankar: Music
Find all the CDs, MP3s, and vinyl, plus photos, videos, biographies, discussions, and more. › Visit Amazon's Ananda Shankar Store
Ananda Shankar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ananda Shankar (11 December 1942 - 26 March 1999) was an Bengali musician best known for fusing Western and Eastern musical styles. He was married to Tanushree Shankar.
Ananda Shankar Jayant - India | Facebook
Ananda Shankar Jayant (India) is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Ananda Shankar Jayant (India) and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and ...
Ananda Shankar : :
Ananda Shankar by Ananda Shankar on Collector's Choice - Reviews ...
Ananda Shankar by Ananda Shankar is a version of a studio album, first released 1970 on Collector's Choice. This studio album has 8 tracks including Jumpin' Jack Flash, Snow Flower ...
Amazon.com: Ananda Shankar: Ananda Shankar: Music
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
MySpace - Ananda Shankar - 66 - Male - Almora - myspace.com ...
MySpace profile for Ananda Shankar with pictures, videos, personal blog, interests, information about me and more
YouTube - Ananda Shankar-Dancing Drums
I bet some of you *points at commenters* found this through LBP, please proceed to listen to more Indian Music, like Ravi Shankar.
ANANDA SHANKAR, Sa Re-Ga Machan - Boomkat
ANANDA SHANKAR, Sa Re-Ga Machan, Back in stock. Highly sought after for years, 'Sa-Re-Ga Machan' was originally released in 1981 on vinyl only and showcased Shankar's unmistakable ...