Sure, this record really isn't more than an exploitation of the crossover between psychedelic music and Eastern sounds, but that shouldn't detract anyone from listening to it in its entirety; in fact, that would be a huge mistake. The opener, the sitar- and Moog-soaked take on 'Jumpin' Jack Flash,' is performed perfectly, with every choice accent milked for maximum drama. Once the novelty of sitar-dosed covers of your favorite songs wears off, you really begin to notice how excellent the performances are on this record. Ananda Shankar manages to bridge the gap between kitsch and fine art on these tracks, from the opener all the way to the cover of 'Light My Fire.' One minute he is playing simple notes like it was taking the place of a guitar, at other times utilizing the full reign of the sitar's sound possibilities. The originals on the album follow an equally impressive path.
The dreamy, hazy bliss of tracks like 'Snow Flower' and 'Mamata' is both meditative and slinky - light melodies with twisted atmospherics and tweaked Moogs. The drum breaks in the gurgling 'Metamorphosis' are worth the price of the album alone. For the most part, the album rarely strays from the East-meets-West formula, with the Eastern rhythms getting the short shrift and the focus relying on Western funk and pop styles getting an Eastern makeover. Not that this is bad at all, but when the track 'Sagar' ends, you realize that this record could have been much more than it was. This specific track guides the listener through a space/water odyssey over the course of 13 minutes. It's a slow build that gains momentum as the music progresses and flashes of acoustic guitar help the rhythm along.
The final track is a great mixture of folk guitars that takes the focus away from the sitar for once, instead incorporating vocals and a chorus that manages to lock into a repeated chant that is the unexpected highlight of the album. Jon Pruett.
Ananda Shankar album Walking On is a good music album, Walking On release at Feb 29, 2000, song365 provider the album download and streaming service.
Ananda Shankar (11 December 1942 – 26 March 1999) was an Indian musician best known for his fusion of Western and Eastern musical styles. He was married to Tanushree Shankar. Born in Almora, Uttar Pradesh, India, Ananda was the son of Amala and Uday Shankar, popular dancers. He was also the nephew of renowned sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar.
Uday Shankar
Ananda did not learn sitar from his uncle but studied instead with Dr. Lalmani Misra in Varanasi. 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 studio album, the self-titled Ananda Shankar 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, tabla and mridangam, Western rock guitar, 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 featured in the soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. Ananda Shankar (11 December 1942 – 26 March 1999) was an Indian musician best known for his fusion of Western and Eastern musical styles. He was married to Tanushree Shankar. Born in Almora, Uttar Pradesh, India, Ananda was the son of Amala and Uday Shankar, popular dancers. He was also the nephew of renowned sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar.
Ananda did not learn sitar from his uncle but studied instead with Dr. Lalmani Misra in Varanasi. In the late 1960s Shankar travelled to Los Angeles Ananda Shankar (11 December 1942 – 26 March 1999) was an Indian musician best known for his fusion of Western and Eastern musical styles.
He was married to Tanushree Shankar. Born in Almora, Uttar Pradesh, India, Ananda was the son of Amala and Uday Shankar, popular dancers. He was also the nephew of renowned sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar. Ananda did not learn sitar from his uncle but studied instead with Dr. Lalmani Misra in Varanasi. 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 studio album, the self-titled Ananda Shankar 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, tabla and mridangam, Western rock guitar, 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 featured in the soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.