Uwishunu.com

Post by Joel Franke

He is the Godfather of World Music. He is the quintessential sitar player of the last hundred years. He is the pioneer of international, cross-genre instrumentation and a maestro of chromatic expression. And he’s coming to the Kimmel Center October 19th.

Ravi Shankar’s music is inexplicably and all-at-once time-tested and emotional relevant; his influence stretches from Bollywood to Abbey Road to the University of North Texas.

And on top of his patriarchal credits, he’s also the father of two overwhelmingly talented young women: international music and cultural icon, Grammy® nominated Anoushka Shankar and the 10-time Grammy® winner Geethali “Norah Jones” Shankar. This Sunday evening performance in the 2,500 seat Verizon Hall will blend old with new in a dialectical, harmonic discussion as daughter Anoushka Shankar plays her sitar alongside her father.

Anoushka has been called the guardian of Indian Classical Music and a worthy successor to her father’s legacy. Each of her albums — her first solo release recorded at 17 — has been met with critical acclaim, and her latest release takes a few more bold steps in a journey on a musical frontier that’s she’s admirably claiming for her own.

This will be a celebration of the music that has captivated the eyes and ears of generations of musicians; it will serve to carry on the legend. But what’s the point of a legend if there’s no one around hear it told, to keep the story alive? If you don’t come, you could always catch up with me sometime, sit on my knee as I smoke my pipe, and listen as I tell the story in words that — realistically — won’t last the winter; I recommend you come out Sunday hear it for yourself.

Ravi and Anoushka Shankar
Sunday, 19th October 2008, 8:00pm

Kimmel Center
260 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102
215-790-5800
www.kimelcenter.org