Ragas & Talas/India's Master Musician

This double album presents two of the earliest releases of the late sitar legend Ravi Shankar. Ragas & Talas was released in 1959 while India's Master Musician dates from 1958. Both discs also feature additional bonus tracks from a live concert recording in Los Angeles in 1961, which had previously been released on vinyl as In Concert. The accompanying booklet includes original notes from all three albums.

In addition to ragas ‘Jogiya’ and ‘Madhu-Kauns’, the first disc also features a brief exposé of the rupaktala (seven-beat rhythm cycle), with the tabla being played by Shankar's then regular accompanist, the late virtuoso Alla Rakha. The second CD has a light-classical and folk flavour featuring melodies such as ‘Kafi-holi’, connected to the Spring Festival of Colours, as well as a ‘Mishra Piloo’ in thumri (semi-classical song) style. Shankar began touring in Europe and the US during the mid-50s and even in those very early days of his glittering international career, he managed to gather a very large following – despite Western audiences being none too familiar with Indian music. Shankar's expertise lay in always providing the real thing in digestible doses, without diluting or compromising one of the world's oldest classical music traditions. The fifth track on the first disc – taken from the live concert recording in 1961 – presents ‘Raga Madhuvanti’ in a somewhat condensed form, yet still given the full treatment expressing a delicate expression of love in all its nuances.