Anoushka Shankar – Traveller (live at Girona Festival) 2012

As the Spring break winds to a peaceful (sic - ceasefire anyone!?) end there is this

Again ( did I post some Anoushka before?!) someone possibly for Anoushka posedt a thirty second clip of this piece on Flikennabokk or Instawhoojit (you mean ‘social media’? ED) and why they did post the whole thing is beyond me but maybe they are just hooking folks like me in . . . . . AAAAAaaaaanyhoo

Here’s the whole thing for a number of reasons the number itself but the dancer, the jaw harp played and the fellow Sanjeev Shankar* (no relation) on sarod which I love . . . ti was a project amalgamating Flamenco with traditional Indian classical music

Anoushka said: 

All the way back in 2012 I took ‘Traveller’ to this beautiful Lyon festival Festival Les Nuits de Fourvière - Officiel.  It’s genuinely one of my highlight performance memories and I’m so delighted to be heading back to this iconic festival on 18th July with ‘Chapter III’!

For those who don’t know, we toured my Indian-flamenco album ‘Traveller’ for two years worldwide hitting a whopping 99 shows, all in the time immediately after I had my first baby! It was a mad and wonderful time and truly no joke putting a band together combining flamenco and Indian classical musicians, and finding ways for them to communicate without a shared spoken language and with differing musical idioms. Near the end of this clip you can hear my beloved Sanjeev Shankar- who we tragically lost a few months ago*- beginning his plaintive shehnai solo over the cajon and moorsing groove.

To return to this stage now, as I close the circle on my Chapters trilogy, feels perfect. I love summer shows like these and can’t wait to be sharing the new music in festival settings in Europe after our extensive North American run.

For all ticket information, head to https://www.bandsintown.com/a/4761

In video: Sanjeev Shankar, Pirashanna Thevarajah, Israel Suarez, Melon Jimenez

Anoushka Shankar – Traveller (live at Girona Festival)

Anoushka Shankar perform "Traveller" live at 12th Girona Festival featuring the repertoire of her debut album on Deutsche Grammophon. "Traveller", produced by Javier Limón, was released in October 2011 and combines Indian and Spanish musical traditions. Anoushka Shankar Traveller Pirashanna Thevarajah Piraña Javier Limón Girona Festival, Spain

Norah Jones on meeting Ray Charles

 Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and, as of 2023, had sold more than 50 million records worldwide. Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000s decade. She has won nine Grammy Awards and was ranked 60th on Billboard magazine's artists of the 2000s decade chart.

“When I met Ray Charles I couldn’t stop crying. Twenty-something years ago, still new to the game, I was in a show honouring Elton John. Ray and I were introduced in the parking lot – I bawled uncontrollably. I was raised on his music. A few months later, we sang together for his last album before he died. That was a special day in the studio.

I don’t make music for awards, but sure, they feel good. My first record won five Grammys. All I remember from that night was being starving and Aretha Franklin handing me a statue. The day after, a picture of my apartment was on a newspaper front page: I couldn’t go home. Then my boyfriend had a tragic family death. It put things in perspective.”

Norah is the daughter of Woodstock performer Ravi Shankar who performed on day one of the Woodstock Festival on Friday night August 15, 1969 from 10:00 ~ 10:45 PM. Norah’s mother is Sue Jones, a New York concert producer. After her parents separated in 1986, Jones lived with her mother, growing up in Grapevine, Texas. At the age of 16, with both parents' consent, she officially changed her name to Norah Jones.

Norah’s half sister Anoushka Shankar is a world class musician and sitar player of great renown. She has received nine Grammy Awards nominations and was the first musician of Indian origin to perform live and to serve as a presenter at the ceremony. She was the youngest and first woman to receive a British House of Commons Shield. Anoushka is the daughter of Ravi Shankar and Sukanya Rajan.

 

ANOUSHKA SHANKAR - 2019

 A truly moving and lovely quality set from Big O this morning from Anoushka Shankar only short at just over the half hour but so accomplished. There is really something special about her playing IMHO she is approachable in her work to western ears and there always seem to be a meld between Indian music and I detect some kind of Western flavour somehow. . . . I am not knowledgeable enough to pin this feeling down but she is highly listenable and seems highly gifted. I enjoyed her father's work ( and am a huge fan of her half sister's work also) I came across him, as so many must have through George Harrison and treasure the Concert for Bangladesh amongst my record collection. Give it a listen I feel you won't be disappointed and it serves its own rewards . . . . at once earthly and meditative, it transforms me, I find it highly contemplative an aid yo meditation in the best possible way and indeed consciousness altering. . . . . . . . . so there! 

I dedicate this concert to yesterday's International Women's Day

Anoushka Shankar - BBC London 2019