The album to start with

Raga

Ravi Shankar: Banaras Ghat – stream Spotify

Eternally pictured sitting cross-legged and barefoot, clutching his enormous sitar, wreathed in incense smoke with his head tilted askew as if in reverence to his own improvisations, Ravi Shankar has done more than perhaps any other modern musician to personify the deeply complex and meditative intricacies of Indian classical music in the western world over the past century. With a catalogue of more than 75 albums and 15 film scores, his is a daunting discography.

The soundtrack to his 1971 autobiographical film Raga is the perfect place to start. Since Indian classical is a live and largely improvised music, these live recordings – including some from 1967’s Monterey Pop festival – are an invigorating, condensed introduction to the crescendos of the raga song structure. With performances that in India might have lasted five hours or more, here Shankar provides his own highlights, with snatches of ragas lasting closer to three minutes than 30.

Opening with the rhythmic foundations of the genre on East/West Introductions, Shankar counts the 13-beat ardha jaital cycle while virtuoso tabla player Alla Rakha fires out polyrhythms with the force of a man with at least four hands. Other highlights come on the Medley of Raga Parameshwari and Raga Rangeshwari where we skip straight into some of Shankar’s most intricate harmonic phrasings before segueing into the calm meditations of Banaras Ghat.

On The Spirit of the Raga, we hear Shankar explaining the spiritual import of his music, its deeper meaning beyond technicality. It is a combination of “reverence, fear and humility, since the ragas, he says, are like people – you have to be awestruck by them” in order to open up to the power of the improvisation. “It is only then that listeners enter into something they are not aware of, an adventure … where I feel they are with me.” This is the real power of Shankar’s music – to allow a deeper meaning to envelop as you listen.

The three albums to check out next

Live: Ravi Shankar at the Monterey International Pop Festival

Ravi Shankar: Ravi Shankar at the Monterey International Pop Festival – stream Spotify

Shankar’s 1967 show at the Monterey Pop festival is perhaps Shankar’s most famous live performance, and certainly the one that cemented him as a somewhat unwilling hippie figurehead. Captured in part in Raga, this subsequent release features his 53-minute show in full.

The 27-minute opener Raga Bhimpalasi features Shankar solo, taking his time with the free-form alap intro before moving into the deeper register of his sitar and percussively plucking to the intricate crescendo of the closing jhala. A half-hour solo is a bold opening move – and yet this is the essence of Shankar’s playing: you can hear him easing into the composition and then approaching his improvisation to grasp at the notes of his expression. Before long, you can picture him in a free-flow rapture, playing in an otherworldly communing with his instrument.

Alla Rakha’s tabla solo then adds a more earthy form of virtuosity before the closing Dhun, which builds with such intensity that you can hear the rapturous applause swelling from the crowd as Shankar and Rakha exchange passages with lightning intensity. With both Shankar and Rakha now long gone, this is the closest we can get to experiencing the magic of their deeply felt musical telepathy.

Improvisations and Theme from Pather Panchali

Ravi Shankar: Improvisations and Theme from Pather Panchali – stream Spotify

Shankar was not only a distinguished performer but also an accomplished composer of orchestral works and film scores. One of his earliest and most notable works was for Bengali director Satyajit Ray’s revelatory Apu Trilogy.

In his music for the first film of the trilogy, Pather Panchali, Shankar chose to largely improvise his scoring work in the studio, as opposed to the norm of rigorously writing out arrangements. It hits the sweet spot between free-form expression and precision, providing an ideal backdrop to the visual saga of Ray’s protagonist Apu. Mixing Indian tradition with western classical – a theme Shankar would go on to explore with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and Philip Glass – he veers from the bright melody of the theme to the fast-paced melodrama of Fire Night and then the sweeping build of Raga Rageshri to mirror the bildungsroman journey of young Apu. A masterclass in instrumental scene-setting.

Chants of India

Ravi Shankar: Chants of India – stream Spotify

A late-period passion project, Chants of India explores Shankar’s enduring commitment to the spiritual import of Indian classical, as well as providing a record of his close friendship with George Harrison.

Harrison produced the record, which puts ancient Sanskrit invocations for peace, love and harmony into new musical settings, including the track Prabhujee, which features a rare vocal performance from Shankar himself along with his wife Sukanya. The result is a deeply calming and moving collection; the perfect balm for your possible isolation anxiety, as well as a reflection on Shankar and Harrison’s partnership.

One for the heads

Jazzmine

Ravi Shankar: Jazzmine – stream Spotify

Shankar’s work has long been admired by jazz musicians for its use of improvisation and complex rhythm – most notably by John Coltrane, whose late-period spirituality caused him to seek out Shankar and ultimately name his own son Ravi.

Jazzmine is the only jazz recording Shankar made. It’s a remarkable if overlooked album. A live ensemble consisting of a 19-piece Indian orchestra, five jazz musicians and four vocalists, this all-star fusion of jazz swing and raga harmony is a concept that has been attempted since but never bettered for feeling. While the recording quality is poor, the musicians’ enthusiasm, especially on the finale Mishrank, is palpable and kinetic.

The primer playlist

For Spotify users, listen below or click on the Spotify icon in the top right of the playlist; for Apple Music users, click here.

Listener’s digest: where to start with Ravi Shankar – playlist Spotify

Further reading

Indian Sun, by Oliver Craske

The first biography to be written about Shankar, pieced together by dozens of interviews with the man himself, as well as hundreds with his family and friends. Craske brings an intimate, expert reading of Shankar’s music, as well as revelatory access to create the definitive portrait of his context within modern culture.

Ravi Shankar: The Rolling Stone Interview, by Sue C Clark

A classic interview with Shankar at the height of his 60s fame by one of his west coast disciples. A glimpse into his no-frills approach to the Indian classical tradition – “If something is done beautifully I will certainly appreciate it” – as well as the burgeoning and culturally appropriative hippie movement surrounding his music.

George Harrison: Living in the Material World, by Olivia Harrison

One of Shankar’s greatest friendships was with George Harrison, and this deeply moving memoir by Harrison’s widow uses dozens of letters and beautiful photography to piece together the former Beatle’s enduring love of Indian classical and the friendship the two men shared. A companion piece to Martin Scorsese’s masterful documentary of the same name.