Biography
Ananda Shankar, the nephew of renowned sitar master Ravi Shankar, carved out his own niche in the psychedelic underground of the 1970s despite never attaining his uncle’s level of fame. By fusing Indian musical traditions with Western electronics, he produced extended instrumental pieces and atmospheric film scores that resonated within that scene. Born to celebrated classical dancers, he developed an early passion for entertainment and journeyed to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, where he performed alongside rock figures such as Jimi Hendrix during the height of the psychedelic era. At 27 he secured a contract with Reprise Records and issued his self-titled debut, a cult favorite that merged Hindustani elements with psych-rock and featured sitar-driven renditions of “Jumping Jack Flash” and “Light My Fire.” Weak American sales prompted his return to India, where he assembled the 1975 album Ananda Shankar and His Music, layering aggressive funk rhythms and keyboards over indigenous instruments. Between 1978 and 1981 he completed five thematic projects: India Remembers Elvis, offering Indian interpretations of Elvis Presley classics; A Musical Discovery of India, underwritten by the Indian tourist board; Missing You, a tribute to his parents; the space-oriented 2001; and the jungle-safari-inflected Sá-Re-Gá Machán. In the mid-1990s, DJs and producers began mining his catalog for samples. Blue Note’s 1996 compilation Blue Juice, Vol. 1 spotlighted two of his tracks, “Streets of Calcutta” and “Dancing Drums,” which helped revive interest and earned him appearances at Peter Gabriel’s Womad festival as well as shows with Asian turntablist DJ State of Bengal. Their partnership yielded the 2000 release Walking On, pairing his sitar technique with bachelor-pad breakbeats and trip-hop textures. Shankar did not live to see the album issued, succumbing to a sudden heart attack at age 56. In 2007 Fallout Records reissued Ananda Shankar and His Music, appending Sá-Re-Gá Machán and India Remembers Elvis as bonus material.
Albums
