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{{About|the 1968 album by Ravi Shankar|Shankar's 1974 Indian music revue and 1976 studio album, produced by George Harrison|Ravi Shankar's Music Festival from India}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Ravi Shankar's Festival from India
| type = studio
| artist = [[Ravi Shankar]]
| cover = File:LP cover, Ravi Shankar's Music Festival from India, 1968.jpg
| alt =
| released = December 1968
| recorded = mid 1968 <br>World Pacific Studio, Los Angeles
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = [[Indian classical music|Indian classical]]
| length =
| label = [[World Pacific]]
| producer = [[Richard Bock (producer)|Richard Bock]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
'''''Ravi Shankar's Festival from India''''' is a double album by Indian musician and composer [[Ravi Shankar]], released on [[World Pacific Records]] in December 1968. It contains studio recordings made by a large ensemble of performers, many of whom Shankar had brought to the United States from India. Among the musicians were [[Shivkumar Sharma]], [[Jitendra Abhisheki]], [[Palghat R. Raghu|Palghat Raghu]], [[Lakshmi Shankar]], [[Aashish Khan]] and [[Alla Rakha]]. The project presented [[Indian classical music]] in an orchestral setting, so recalling Shankar's work as musical director of [[All India Radio]] in the years before he achieved international fame as a soloist during the 1960s.

After recording the album in Los Angeles, Shankar's ensemble – also titled the Festival from India – toured America during June and July 1968. Some of the performers subsequently taught at Shankar's [[Kinnara School of Music]], instructing Western students in the intricacies of Indian music. Shankar revisited the Festival from India concept in 1974, when [[George Harrison]] sponsored a program of European concerts titled [[Ravi Shankar's Music Festival from India]].

==History==
[[File:Ravi Shankar flier front.jpg|thumb|160px|left|Flyer for an October 1967 concert by Shankar and [[Alla Rakha]], held four months after their performance at the [[Monterey Pop Festival]]]]
Having achieved international fame over 1966–67,<ref name="Rough Guide p 109">''World Music: The Rough Guide'', p. 109.</ref><ref name="Hunt/Ravi AM">{{cite web|first=Ken |last=Hunt |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ravi-shankar-mn0000404463/biography |title=Ravi Shankar |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |accessdate=25 August 2015}}</ref> Ravi Shankar spent the early part of 1968 in India filming a documentary of his life, ''[[Raga (film)|Raga]]'', and writing his first autobiography, ''My Music, My Life''.<ref>Lavezzoli, pp. 184, 197.</ref> Both of these projects allowed him to reflect on his status as an ambassador for Indian culture and on the criticism that he received from purists and some fellow musicians in India, who accused him of betraying his roots and commercialising [[Indian classical music]].<ref>Shankar 1999, pp. 176, 208–10.</ref> In a 2007 interview, Shankar continued to refute such criticism, citing his adherence to the [[guru-shishya tradition]], whereby he had nurtured the development of his protégés [[Harihar Rao]], Amiyo Das Gupta, Kartick Kumar and [[Shamim Ahmed Khan|Shamim Ahmed]] after moving to the United States. He also highlighted the 1968 Festival from India revue as one of many musical ventures where he had brought over other Indian classical performers that were little known in the West.<ref name="Reflections">{{cite web|url=http://www.ravishankar.org/reflections.html |title=Reflections" > "Excerpts from a conversation between Raviji and Satish and Shashi Vyas, June 2007| publisher=The Ravi Shankar Foundation |date=7 December 2013 |accessdate=25 August 2015}}</ref>

Before beginning his international career in 1956, Shankar had been musical director of [[All India Radio]]<ref name="Hunt/Ravi AM" /><ref>Shankar 2007, pp. 92–93, 96.</ref> and head of the national orchestra, the Vadya Vrinda.<ref>Shankar 1999, pp. 118–20, 141.</ref><ref>Lavezzoli, pp. 56, 61.</ref> Subsequently, in between his engagements in the West, he had continued to compose and perform orchestral productions, such as ''Nava Rasa Ranga'' in 1964.<ref>Shankar 1999, pp. 171–72.</ref> While in India making ''Raga'', Shankar was filmed rehearsing with a large cast of musicians in a [[Bombay]] studio.<ref>{{cite news|first=Howard |last=Thompson |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/24/archives/screen-ravi-shankar-raga-a-documentary-at-carnegie-cinema.html |title=Screen: Ravi Shankar; 'Raga,' a Documentary, at Carnegie Cinema |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=24 November 1971 |page=23 |accessdate=26 August 2015}}</ref> For his Festival from India orchestra, Shankar then asked the following performers to join him in California: his sister-in-law [[Lakshmi Shankar]] (vocals), [[Shivkumar Sharma]] ([[santoor]]), Sharad Kumar ([[shehnai]] and flute), [[Sabri Khan]] ([[sarangi]]), Miskin Khan ([[tabla]] and percussion),<ref name="RagaMala p 203">Shankar 1999, p. 203.</ref> [[Jitendra Abhisheki]] (vocals) and [[Palghat R. Raghu|Palghat Raghu]] ([[mridangam]]).<ref name="Reflections" /> His students Das Gupta and Ahmed contributed on tambura and sitar, respectively, while Rao's brother Taranath, although a skilled tablist, played tambura.<ref>Shankar 1999, pp. 113, 203.</ref>

In his second autobiography, ''[[Raga Mala (book)|Raga Mala]]'', Shankar writes that for most of these players, the 1968 Festival from India was "their first big break in the West".<ref name="RagaMala p 203" />{{refn|group=nb|Lakshmi had toured internationally earlier in the 1960s, however, as part of [[Uday Shankar]]'s dance troupe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.associationsargam.com/lakshmi_shankar.htm|last=Isal|first=Shireen|date=June 2001|title=Lakshmi Shankar – Association Sargam (Interview)|publisher=Association Sargam|accessdate=26 August 2015}}</ref> Sharma had also begun to establish himself in the West, through the popularity of his album ''[[Call of the Valley]]'',<ref>Lavezzoli, p. 32.</ref> a 1967 collaboration with [[bansuri]] player [[Hariprasad Chaurasia]] and [[lap slide guitar]]ist [[Brij Bhushan Kabra]].<ref>''World Music: The Rough Guide'', pp. 75, 78.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/call-of-the-valley-mw0000174667|last=Hunt|first=Ken|title=Hariprasad Chaurasia / Brij Bhushan Kabra / Shivkumar Sharma ''Call of the Valley''|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|accessdate=28 August 2015}}</ref>}} According to Shankar's recollection, the other personnel were [[Aashish Khan]] ([[sarod]]) and Fakir Mohammad ([[dholak]] and tambura), together with musicians who had regularly accompanied Shankar during his [[raga]] recitals in the West: [[Alla Rakha]] (tabla), [[Nodu Mullick]] (tambura and [[swarmandel]])<ref name="LP credits">{{cite AV media notes|title= Ravi Shankar's Festival from India|others= Ravi Shankar |year= 1968 |type= LP inner sleeve credits |publisher= [[World Pacific]]}}</ref> and [[Kamala Chakravarty]] (vocals).<ref name="RagaMala p 203" /> The ensemble's instrumentation also included [[Saraswati veena|veena]] and [[kanjira]].<ref name="LP credits" /><ref name="StanfordDaily" /> Some of the performers would subsequently teach at Shankar's [[Kinnara School of Music]],<ref name="Reflections" /> the students of which included [[Rock music|rock]] musicians [[Jim Morrison]]<ref>Shankar 1999, pp. 204, 206.</ref> and [[Robbie Krieger]] of [[the Doors]], [[Collin Walcott]]<ref>Lavezzoli, pp. 110, 158–59, 425.</ref> and [[Russ Titelman]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQkEAAAAMBAJ&q=uncredited&pg=PA47 |last=White|first=Timothy |title='Please Don't Wake Me': Producer Russ Titelman Recalls 35 Years in the Service of a California Dream |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=22 June 1996 |page=47|accessdate=28 August 2015}}</ref>
{{-}}

==Recording==
With his orchestra assembled in Los Angeles, Shankar recorded a double album, titled ''Ravi Shankar's Festival from India''. The sessions took place at [[World Pacific]]'s studio and were produced by [[Richard Bock (producer)|Richard Bock]],<ref>Shankar 1999, pp. 203–04.</ref> the record label's founder.<ref>Lavezzoli, p. 61.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Shankar's piece "V 7½" was also recorded at a Bock-produced session in 1968, featuring [[jazz]] flautist [[Bud Shank]] and percussionist [[Emil Richards]], along with Festival from India musicians Rakha, Sharma, Aashish Khan, Kumar, Sabri Khan, Miskin Khan, Raghu and Ahmed.<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title= [[Ravi Shankar: In Celebration]]|others= Ravi Shankar |year= 1996 |type= booklet |publisher= [[Angel Records|Angel]]/[[Dark Horse Records|Dark Horse]]|p=38}}</ref> The track remained unreleased until its inclusion on the 1996 four-disc compilation ''[[Ravi Shankar: In Celebration]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Heidi |last=Waleson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQ0EAAAAMBAJ&q=disciple |title=Angel set celebrates Ravi Shankar: Sitarist called 'Godfather of World Music' |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=23 December 1995 |page=63 |accessdate=29 August 2015}}</ref>}} Shankar later admired the album as "a highly satisfactory recording" with "many varied items, ranging from classical to folk in style".<ref name="RagaMala p 204">Shankar 1999, p. 204.</ref>

Following the opening "Vedic Hymn" (sung by Abhisheki), its content included Shankar's orchestral adaptations of ragas such as [[Kirwani]], [[Malkauns]] and [[Vasantha (raga)|Vasanta]]; [[thumri]] and [[bhajan]] vocal pieces; and [[dhun]] and other traditional folk tunes.<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title= Ravi Shankar's Festival from India|others= Ravi Shankar |year= 1968 |type= LP liner notes |publisher= [[World Pacific]]}}</ref> The range of instruments also allowed for a blending of the two disciplines of Indian classical music, with sitar, sarod and tabla being the mainstays of the [[Hindustani classical music|Hindustani]] (or North Indian) system, while veena, mridangam and kanjira are commonly associated with the [[Carnatic music|Carnatic]] (South Indian) system.<ref>Lavezzoli, pp. 3–4, 441, 444.</ref><ref>''World Music: The Rough Guide'', pp. 70, 73, 81, 83.</ref>

==US tour==
[[File:Greek Theater 2007.JPG|thumb|right|The Festival from India orchestra performed at the [[Greek Theatre]] in Los Angeles at the start of the tour.]]
After the completing the recording, the ensemble undertook a US tour.<ref name="RagaMala p 204" /> Among their first engagements, the Festival from India performed at the [[Greek Theatre (Los Angeles)|Greek Theatre]] in Los Angeles over 24–30 June.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zAoEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Festival+from+India%22&pg=PA57|title=International News Reports" > "Los Angeles|last=Weber|first=Bruce|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=15 June 1968|page=57|accessdate=25 August 2015}}</ref> Although Shankar lists Aashish Khan as the only sarodya in the ensemble,<ref name="RagaMala p 203" /> a report in the ''[[Los Angeles Daily News#History|Van Nuys News]]'' included Khan's father (and Shankar's brother-in-law)<ref>Shankar 2007, p. 85.</ref> [[Ali Akbar Khan]] among the performers at the Greek Theatre. The newspaper's reviewer, Stephen Braitman, also wrote that, with the sitar "probably the most familiar [instrument]" to the audience, the orchestra's music "spanned nearly every conceivable combination of sound", and following the inspired interplay between Shankar's sitar and Ali Akbar Khan's sarod, the performers received "a screaming, shouting, standing ovation".<ref>{{cite news|title=Pop Sounds from India Rock Greek: Ravi Shankar, Greek Theatre, Los Angeles|last=Braitman|first=Stephen M.H.|date=30 June 1968|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Daily News#History|Van Nuys News]]}} Available at [http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/pop-sounds-from-india-rock-greek-ravi-shankar-greek-theatre-los-angeles Rock's Backpages] (subscription required).</ref> The opening concert marked the first time that Shankar and Khan performed together in the US.

The ensemble played at [[Stanford University]]'s [[Frost Amphitheater]] on 5 and 6 July, as part of the university's Summer Festival.<ref name="StanfordDaily">{{cite news|url=http://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19680705-01.2.16&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-student+army+training+corps------#|title=Shankar, Indians To Play In Festival|date=5 July 1968|author=Staff writer|work=[[The Stanford Daily]]|page=6|accessdate=25 August 2015}}</ref> ''[[The Stanford Daily]]'' reported that Shankar had gathered "some of the finest musicians of India for this tour" and gave the total number of players as 22. While detailing the varied program, the newspaper highlighted Ali Akbar Khan's presence, along with that of flautist [[N. Ramani]] and veena player [[Doraiswamy Iyengar]].<ref name="StanfordDaily" />{{refn|group=nb|In an interview for Peter Lavezzoli's 2006 book ''The Dawn of Indian Music in the West'', Shankar said that Collin Wallcott, whom he considered the most promising of his Western students, was also among the performers on the 1968 tour.<ref>Lavezzoli, pp. 425–26.</ref>}} Later in the year, the Festival from India played in New York, where their show was reviewed in ''[[The New York Times]]'' by [[V. K. Narayana Menon|Narayana Menon]], head of All India Radio. Menon praised the energy created by Palghat Raghu and Alla Rakha, on mridangam and tabla, respectively, as the two drummers evoked a musical and cultural exchange between the two disciplines of Indian classical music.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/09/12/archives/music-a-quick-tour-of-indias-styles.html |last=Menon|first=Dr. Narayana |date=12 September 1968 |title=Music: A Quick Tour of India's Styles |work=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=26 August 2015}}</ref>

==Release and legacy==
World Pacific Records released ''Ravi Shankar's Festival from India'' in December 1968.<ref name="BB review" /> Described by Shankar as "a beautiful cover jacket", the album's gatefold cover was designed by [[Jan Steward]].<ref name="RagaMala p 204" /> Among other Shankar projects, Steward created the artwork for a book accompanying ''Anthology of Indian Music'', a double LP issued by World Pacific in 1969 containing Shankar's spoken history of Indian classical music.<ref>Shankar 1999, pp. 204, 231.</ref>

Reviewing the ''Festival from India'' album in December 1968, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine said that after his past successes, Shankar was now "test[ing] his own market power with a double disk LP, featuring a festival of haunting, hypnotizing instrumentals". The reviewer added that while the price of the double album might adversely affect its commercial performance, "his influence will only grow."<ref name="BB review">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_kQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Festival+from+India%22&pg=PA77|title=Album Reviews" > "Special Merit Picks|author=Billboard Review Panel|date=14 December 1968|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=77|accessdate=25 August 2015}}</ref> In his Raghu obituary, in 2009, music critic [[Ken Hunt (music journalist)|Ken Hunt]] noted that the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' had adopted a quote from the 1968 ''New York Times'' review in its definition of "mridangam or mridanga". He also admired Raghu's performance on the studio version of "Raga Mishra Gara" as "a North–South drum meeting with Alla Rakha".<ref name="Hunt/Raghu">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/palghat-r-raghu-master-of-indian-percussion-who-played-with-ravi-shankar-and-alla-rakha-1724491.html|title=Palghat R. Raghu: Master of Indian percussion who played with Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha|last=Hunt|first=Ken|date=30 June 2009|work=[[The Independent]]|accessdate=26 August 2015}}</ref> Following sitarist Shamim Ahmed's death in 2012, Hunt similarly cited his playing on Shankar's ''Festival from India'' – in this case, a duet with Aashish Khan – as a career highlight.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/shamim-ahmed-khan-sitar-player-taught-by-shankar-7542206.html?printService=print|title=Shamim Ahmed Khan: Sitar player taught by Shankar|last=Hunt|first=Ken|date=7 March 2012|work=[[The Independent]]|accessdate=27 August 2015}}</ref>

Shankar returned to the Festival from India concept in 1974, when he staged a [[Ravi Shankar's Music Festival from India|similarly titled revue]] sponsored by [[George Harrison]].<ref>Lavezzoli, p. 195.</ref> The latter, whose introduction of Indian influences to [[the Beatles]]' sound had led to Shankar achieving mainstream popularity during the late 1960s,<ref>''World Music: The Rough Guide'', pp. 109–10.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/rip-ravi-shankar-89803|last=Dyess-Nugent|first=Phil|title=R.I.P. Ravi Shankar|publisher=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=12 December 2012|accessdate=28 August 2015}}</ref> said that he had wanted to present such a revue since 1967,<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title= [[Collaborations (Ravi Shankar and George Harrison album)|Collaborations]]|others= Ravi Shankar, George Harrison |year= 2010 |type= box-set book |publisher= [[Dark Horse Records]]|p=15}}</ref> after hearing the sitarist's orchestral work ''Nava Rasa Ranga''.<ref>{{cite web|first=Olivia |last=Harrison |url=http://www.spinner.com/2010/10/18/george-harrison-ravi-shankar-collaborations/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102132411/http://www.spinner.com/2010/10/18/george-harrison-ravi-shankar-collaborations/ |title=George Harrison and Ravi Shankar Box Set 'Collaborations' Is a Labor of Love for Me |publisher=[[Spinner (website)|Spinner]] |date=18 October 2010 |archivedate=2 January 2011 |accessdate=27 August 2015}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|An admirer of ''Call of the Valley'' also,<ref>Dimery, p. 126.</ref> Harrison worked with Festival from India musicians Shivkumar Sharma, Aashish Khan and Sharad Kumar<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title= [[Wonderwall Music]]|others= George Harrison |year= 2014 |type= CD credits |publisher= [[Apple Records|Apple]]/[[EMI]]}}</ref> on his 1968 solo album ''[[Wonderwall Music]]'', recorded partly in Bombay.<ref>Lavezzoli, pp. 182–83.</ref>}} Shankar's 1968 studio album was later issued on CD by the specialist reissue label [[BGO Records]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bgo-records.com/albums/bgocd301-festival-from-india|title=Festival From India by Ravi Shankar (1968)|publisher=[[BGO Records]]|accessdate=25 August 2015}}</ref>

==Track listing==
All selections traditional, adapted by [[Ravi Shankar]].

;Side one
# "Vedic Hymn" – 2:38
# "Raga Yemen in Teental (16 Beats)" – 4:40
# "Raga Kirwani Alap-Jor-Gat in Teental (16 Beats)" – 12:57

;Side two
#<li value=4>"Raga Ragehwar Jhaptal (10 Beats), Teental (16 Beats)" – 7:45
# "Raga Puryadhanashree Khyal in Slow Ektal (12 Beats) & Fast Teenal (14 Beats)" – 7:42
# "Thumri in Manj Khamaj, Talchanghar (14 Beats)" – 4:45

;Side three
#<li value=7>"Thumri in Mishra Khamaj, Tal Keherwa (4 Beats)" – 3:30
# "Raga Malkauns, Rupaktal (7 Beats)" – 6:06
# "Raga Vasanta,Tal Rupakam (6 Beats)" – 5:40
# "Raga Mishra Gara, Teental (16 Beats)" – 7:41

;Side four
#<li value=11>"Dhun, Tala Kaharva (8 Beats)" – 4:25
# "Sur Das Bhajan Raga Desh in Dadra (3 Beats)" – 4:35
# "Punjabi Folk Song" – 2:22
# "Doh Bahar" – 10:50

== Personnel ==
* [[Ravi Shankar]] – [[sitar]], direction
* [[Jitendra Abhisheki]] – vocal
* [[Lakshmi Shankar]] – vocal
* [[Kamala Chakravarty]] – vocal
* [[Shivkumar Sharma]] – [[santoor]], [[tabla]]
* [[Aashish Khan]] – [[sarod]]
* [[Alla Rakha]] – tabla
* [[Sabri Khan]] – [[sarangi]]
* [[Palghat R. Raghu|Palghat Raghu]] – [[mridangam]]
* Sharad Kumar – [[shehnai]]
* [[Shamim Ahmed Khan|Shamim Ahmed]] – sitar
* Miskin Khan – tabla, percussion
* [[Nodu Mullick]] – [[tanpura (instrument)|tambura]], [[swarmandel]]
* Amiyo Das Gupta – tambura
* Fakir Mohammad – tambura
* Taranath Rao – tambura

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em|group=nb}}

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Dimery|editor-first=Robert |title=1001 Album You Must Hear Before You Die ''(rev. edn)''|publisher=Universe|location=New York, NY|year=2010|isbn=978-0-7893-2074-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Lavezzoli|first=Peter|title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West|publisher=Continuum|location=New York, NY|year=2006|isbn=0-8264-2819-3}}
* {{cite book|first=Ravi |last=Shankar |title=My Music, My Life ''(updated edn)'' |publisher=Mandala Publishing |location=San Rafael, CA |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-60109-005-8}}
* {{cite book|first=Ravi|last=Shankar|title=Raga Mala: The Autobiography of Ravi Shankar|publisher=Welcome Rain|location=New York, NY|year=1999|isbn=1-56649-104-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ragamalaautobiog00shan}}
* ''World Music: The Rough Guide (Volume 2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific)'' (2000). London: Rough Guides/Penguin. {{ISBN|1-85828-636-0}}.
{{refend}}

{{Ravi Shankar}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1968 albums]]
[[Category:Ravi Shankar albums]]
[[Category:World Pacific Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Richard Bock (producer)]]

Ravi Shankar's Festival from India - Revision history

Ankithreddy: Adding new entry.