Sitar virtuoso and global music icon, Pt Ravi Shankar passed away earlier today morning, on Decemeber 12th, 2012 in the Southern California town of La Joalla at the age of 92. He had been seeking treatment at the Scripps Memorial Hospital since last Thursday. According to officialy reports, he passed away at 4.30 PT due to cardio and respiratory complications.
The three-time Grammy winner and Bharat Ratna recipient, was also nominated for a Grammy award in the Best World Album category for his last live album, “The Living Room Sessions Part 1.”
Pt Shankar has left an indelible mark on the vocabulary of Hindustani classical sangeet and is also responsible for it’s modern far-reaching influences on music around the world. Amongst his various international collaborations and influences on artists like modern jazz legend John Coltrane and Yehudi Menuhin, his relationship with former The Beatles’ member George Harrison is noteworthy.
Pt Shankar met The Beatles in the 1960s and Harrison developed a keener interest in Pt Shankar’s music. The influence on Harrison was evident in songs like Norwegian Wood and Within You Without You.
Watch this rare video of Pt Shankar teaching sitar to Harrison where he wonders on how strange it is to see “pop musicians with sitars.” He adds, “When George Harrison came to me I didn’t know what to think. But I found he really wanted to learn. I never thought our meeting would cause such an explosion and that Indian music could suddenly appear on the pop scene. It is peculiar, but out of this a real interest is growing.”
The last concert Pt Shankar was seen live on stage was in Bengaluru earlier this year, when he performed at a Hindustani classical baithak with daughter, sitar player Anoushka Shankar.
He is survived by his two daughters, Anoushka Shankar and Grammy winner Norah Jones.
