Ravi Shankar (1920-2012)

By Richard K. Barry

Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitarist who worked with The Beatles and other rock stars, and who helped introduce Indian music to a worldwide audience, has died at the age of 92 at a hospital near his home in San Diego.

As The New York Times writes:

Mr. Shankar, a soft-spoken, eloquent man whose virtuosity transcended musical languages, was trained in both Eastern and Western musical traditions. Although Western audiences were often mystified by the odd sounds and shapes of the instruments when he began touring in Europe and the United States in the early 1950s, Mr. Shankar and his ensemble gradually built a large following for Indian music.

Here's a clip of Shankar on the old Dick Cavett Show. Hey, who's that guy with Dick?


(Cross-posted at Hogtown Hipster.)