In Hollywood, 1971

In her liner notes for this project, first released on vinyl earlier this year, Ravi Shankar's widow Sukanya refers to the special circumstances of this recently discovered archival legacy from the master of sitar, who passed away four years ago. ‘It is not only a live recording of a rare morning concert,’ she writes, ‘but it was also an at-home performance Raviji did for some special friends at his residence.’ Among those friends at Shankar's Los Angeles residence were George Harrison, his sometime student and soon-to-be co-organiser of the Concert for Bangladesh. The collegial comfort of this two-CD set is palpable and audible in Shankar's exclamations, and the ‘morning’ ambience of the first track is much calmer than many of Shankar's recorded ragas, with the sitar's lower octaves somehow evoking a warm, peaceful sunrise.

On the second track, nearly an hour in length, the tabla of Alla Rakha, Shankar's longtime percussionist and the father of Zakir Hussain, first provides accents without meter but later helps propel metered passages of quiet excitement. The drone function of the tambura, sounded by Kamala Chakravarty, is more apparent to the listener, as are the variations in both Shankar's rhythmic patterns and attacks. Pleasing variety continues on the shorter third track, sourced from Bangladesh and sweet in its folkiness. The concert's closer, performed in thumri (light classical) style, is irresistible both in its virtuosity and in its passionate delight.