In 1952, legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin traveled to India where he was introduced to a young and talented Sitar player by the name of Ravi Shankar. Some 15 years later, the friendship between the Indian sitarist and the Jewish-American violinist earned the two a Grammy for their collaboration on West Meets East. But that wasn’t the end of Shankar’s romance with western music, as he befriended the members of The Byrds who introduced Shankar to one George Harrison, who was so moved by Shankar’s music that he fell in love with India and asked Shankar to teach him how to play the sitar.
Shankar went on to play some of the largest venues in history, including the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock, collaborate with the likes of Philip Glass and win the highest civil honor in India. Though Shankar passed away in 2012, his legacy very much lives on through his two award-winning daughters, Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones. Though the two half-sisters led a very different life and weren’t aware of one another until their teen years, they have since become very close and have even collaborated several times.
(Bonus: the last song in this playlist is a collaboration by the Shankar sisters dedicated to the memory of their father)
Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin
Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin
Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass
Ravi Shankar and George Harrison
Ravi and Anoushka Shankar
Ravi Shankar and Jean-Pierre Rampal
Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones
