The Fusion Music by Pandit. Ravishankar
Introduction:
In the speech "Fusion Music" Pt. Ravi Shankar recollects his reminiscence about George Harrison, who achieved fame as the lead guitarist of the rock music band "The Beatles". The speech was given on the death of George Harrison, who died on 29thNovember 2001. The sudden demise of George shattered Panditji to the core. Panditji and George became very close when he came to learn sitar from him in the summer and autumn of 1966. Though George did not learn sitar fully, he understood the nuances of Indian music and showed a great love towards it.Panditji's Feelings:
As a human, George was very down to earth and anyone can enjoy the company of George. He used to laugh out loud for Panditji's jokes always and had a childlike quality. Panditji recollects his humaneness with an incident. Once George with his wife Olivia and son Dhani, came to India and spent few weeks.
During then Panditji had a nice outing with George's family to the places like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and etc. In Bombay and Delhi people recognized George and created a stampede whereas in Rajasthan in a market place people identified Panditji and created a big mess, then George acted as his body guard and moved the crowd till they reached the car.
George had a magnanimous mind and always cared so much. Panditji's daughter Anouska and his wife Sukanya were also attached to him. When it comes to divinity, George is more religious that many Indians.
He had a quest for religious knowledge. He was well acquainted with the old Vedic Hindu tradition. Once, Panditji presented him the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Swami Yogananda and Panditji's brother presented him a book by 'Swami Vivekananda'. He had such thirst for the knowledge and wisdom of Indian traditions.
In many ways he was more Indian than many Indians. In his profession he inspired many top personalities like Dylan, Eric Clapton, Leon Russel and many eminent musicians.
He suggested Panditji to do some recording of his performances. As a result Panditji's first recording held at A&M studio for his Dark Horse Label. In the summer of 1974 the second album entitled "Festival India" was recorded.
During then Panditji had a nice outing with George's family to the places like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and etc. In Bombay and Delhi people recognized George and created a stampede whereas in Rajasthan in a market place people identified Panditji and created a big mess, then George acted as his body guard and moved the crowd till they reached the car.
George had a magnanimous mind and always cared so much. Panditji's daughter Anouska and his wife Sukanya were also attached to him. When it comes to divinity, George is more religious that many Indians.
He had a quest for religious knowledge. He was well acquainted with the old Vedic Hindu tradition. Once, Panditji presented him the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Swami Yogananda and Panditji's brother presented him a book by 'Swami Vivekananda'. He had such thirst for the knowledge and wisdom of Indian traditions.
In many ways he was more Indian than many Indians. In his profession he inspired many top personalities like Dylan, Eric Clapton, Leon Russel and many eminent musicians.
He suggested Panditji to do some recording of his performances. As a result Panditji's first recording held at A&M studio for his Dark Horse Label. In the summer of 1974 the second album entitled "Festival India" was recorded.
During these recordings George created a very good atmosphere filled with love and regard. In that music season Panditji travelled along with George and gave more than thirty performances. George went on to help Panditji in the albums like "In Celebration" and "Chants of India". Part of the album was recorded in the southern part of India, Kerala and Madras.
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