The Dawn of Indian Music in the West

Description

A little more than 50 years ago, in 1955, Ali AkbarKhan issued an LP called Music of India: Morning and Evening Ragas, with spoken introduction by violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Until then, Indian music was terra incognita in the West. When the same album was reissued as a CD in 1995, under the title Then and Now,it was nominated for a Grammy. In the last 50 years, there has been the explosive influence of Indian music and culture in the West. Words such as karma, yoga, raga, nirvana, all once unknown here, have entered the language. Most famously, the wonders of the Indian musical world were spread by George Harrison and the Beatles. The music also had a profound effect on Mickey Hart and the Grateful Dead, John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra), the Byrds, John Coltrane, and many others. The annus mirabilis 1967 saw the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi spreading the wonders of transcendental meditation, Swami Prabhupada founding the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in New York City, and the growing influence of Ravi Shankar. Four years later, George Harrison organized the groundbreaking Concert for Bangladesh, the first charity event of rock. Shankar had already wowed audiences at the Monterey Pop Festival, and he achieved stardom at the Madison Square Garden event. (Where Westerners, new to the sounds they heard, applauded after the musicians had finished tuning their instruments!) Peter Lavezzoli, a Buddhist and a musician, has a rare ability to articulate the personal feeling of music, and at the same time narrate a history. Lavezzoli has interviewed more than a score of musicians, such as Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, David Crosby, Philip Glass, Zakir Hussain, Mickey Hart, Zubin Mehta, and John McLaughlin.

Peter Lavezzoli is the author of The King of All, Sir Duke: Ellington and the Artistic Revolution, which is also published by Continuum. As a percussionist and vocalist, Lavezzoli explores the connection between musical and spiritual expression. He lives in Fort Lauderdale, FL

"Peter Lavezzoli's study is a gloriously detailed explanation of Hindustani classical music...It takes some education for untrained ears to learn how to listen to Indian classical music, and Lavezzoli does a great job of explaining concepts like raga and tala.... the music is dissected with scholarly precision while the cosmic implication are also investigated thoroughly."- Brian J. Bowe, harpmagazine.com, September/ October 2006 Lavezzoli... presents an excellent overview of the style of Hindustani, or North Indian, classical music. He presents minutely detailed transcriptions of his interviews, all with insightful commentary, of the principal Indian and Western musicians who have been the prime movers behind the presentation and appreciation of Indian music in the West. Almost a reference book in its dense coverage, this book is nevertheless highly readable and entertaining. Lavezzoli includes a good glossary but a much too select bibliography- CHOICE February 2007 '[a] compendious and fascinating book...It is impossible to do justice to the scope of Lavezzoli's findings in a short review: suffice to say that whether you want to know exactly how the John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain's Shakti came about, or to follow the Ravi Shankar-Frank Zappa-Peter Gabriel trail, everything you need to know is here in abundance.' ~ Michael Church, Songlines -- Michael Church 'Lavezzoli's focus is sharp, primarily Americentric and, without a shadow of a doubt, the finest treatment of what most of Jazzwise's readers would understand by dawn in the context...The heart of the book is a series of marvellous, illuminating Q&A interviews...The only real problem I had with this book was continually going back and re-reading sections instead of reviewing it. High, high praise indeed.' ~ Ken Hunt, Jazzwise, Feb 07 -- Ken Hunt "With the publication of Peter Lavezzoli's detailed and focused account of the impact of the Indian subcontinent's music on non-Indian, specifically the West's music, readers finally have a work that complements Gerry Farrell's Indian Music and the West (1997)... [an] eloquent, passionate and inspirational book." -- Ken Hunt, Froots -Mention. Froots/ March 2007 -- Froots "This historical study is full of detailed information about a disparate collection of the most inventive musicians of the 20th century ... When reading this book you really feel you are being guided by someone with a highly developed intuitive feel for integrity and truth in music." -- Kate Wharton, Straight No Chaser 2006 winner of the ARSC Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. 'One of the book's strengths is that it embraces the whole footprint of Indian music...Lavezzoli is sure-footed in his discussions of music theory and practice, and the interviews with key figures, reproduced...in conversation format are useful resources...This book does fill a noticeable gap on the shelves of university and public libraries for serious Indian music enthusiasts.'Oliver Craske, Times Higher Education Supplement, 27th October 2006 -- Oliver Craske * Times Educational Supplement *