To most people, "India's greatest musician" means Ravi Shankar; but it was Ravi's nephew Ananda Shankar who became the voice of modern India in all its contrasting elements. In ways never previously imagined—much less executed by other master musicians—he alone merged Indian and western, classical and rock traditions; he alone merged the lyrical and the funky, the exotic and the commercial, the traditional and the progressive. The seven tracks on A Musical Discovery of India were included on a 45 RPM 12" made for India Tourism Development Corp., released by EMI Gramophone India in 1978. ‘Kaziranga Beat’ is a terrific long jam highlighting the tabla, and other tracks like ‘Namaskar’, ‘The Hill Train’, ‘Akbar's Jewels’, and ‘Brindavan Revel’, all have their champions. Then came Sa-Re-Ga Machan, a funky, strange, and exotic madhouse (‘Jungle King’ even reprises ‘Streets of Calcutta’) from 1981, which may be the true masterpiece among Ananda Shankar’s albums. His rarest record, it is filled to the brim with hard driving funk and trippy exotica. The material ranges from dreamy swirling instrumentals with electronics and sitar, to deep exotica with organs, flutes, tablas and string sections that will devastate you with their beauty. Booklet contains some nice information about these records, as well as providing full art for both original LPs.
Product Code: ANAJ30
