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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Tana Mana
| type = [[Album]]
| artist = [[Ravi Shankar]]
| cover = Tana Mana 1987 LP cover.jpg
| alt =
| released = June 1987
| recorded = 1983–86
| venue =
| studio = Serafine FX, Los Angeles; [[FPSHOT]], Oxfordshire; The Enterprise, Los Angeles
| genre = [[Music of India|Indian music]], [[jazz]], [[New-age music|new age]]
| length = 40:39
| label = [[Private Music]]
| producer = [[Ravi Shankar]], [[Frank Serafine]], [[Peter Baumann]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}

'''''Tana Mana''''' is an album by Indian musician [[Ravi Shankar]], originally credited to "the Ravi Shankar Project" and released in 1987. The album is an experimental work by Shankar, mixing traditional instrumentation with 1980s [[electronic music]] and [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] technology. Shankar recorded much of ''Tana Mana'' in 1983 with sound effects innovator [[Frank Serafine]], but it remained unreleased until [[Peter Baumann]], head of [[New-age music|new age]] record label [[Private Music]], became attached to the project. The album title translates to mean "body and mind".

In addition to his familiar instrument, the [[sitar]], Shankar plays [[synthesizer]] extensively on the recording. The album also includes contributions from [[Lakshmi Shankar]], [[Aashish Khan]] and [[Kumar Bose]], and Western musicians such as [[George Harrison]], [[Al Kooper]] and [[Ray Cooper]].

==Background and recording==
In his 1997 autobiography, ''[[Raga Mala (book)|Raga Mala]]'', [[Ravi Shankar]] writes that he started work on ''Tana Mana'' in 1983 at the home studio of [[Frank Serafine]], a sound effects designer for Hollywood films such as ''[[Tron]]'' (1982).<ref name="RagaMala p 248">Shankar, ''Raga Mala'', p. 248.</ref> The album began as an experiment by Shankar with the innovative [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] technology that Serafine had assembled at his studio<ref name="RagaMala p 248" /> – Serafine FX in [[Venice, Los Angeles|Venice]], western Los Angeles.<ref name="InCelebration credits">Album booklet, ''[[Ravi Shankar: In Celebration]]'' box set ([[Angel Records|Angel]]/[[Dark Horse Records|Dark Horse]], 1996; produced by George Harrison & Alan Kozlowski).</ref> Shankar recalls recording "two or three pieces" on [[synthesizer]] before having to depart for India.<ref name="RagaMala p 248" /> On his return to Los Angeles, he [[Overdubbing|overdubbed]] contributions from regular accompanists such as his son [[Shubhendra Shankar|Shubho]] and sister-in-law [[Lakshmi Shankar]] (on sitar and vocals, respectively), and from [[sarod]]ya [[Aashish Khan]] and [[tabla]] player [[Swapan Chaudhuri]].<ref>Shankar, ''Raga Mala'', pp. 248, 261.</ref> Up to five new pieces were also recorded at this time, according to Shankar.<ref name="RagaMala p 248" />

In a 2011 interview with tablist [[Tanmoy Bose]], who suggested that the album was "much ahead of its time", Shankar said: "''Tana Mana'' was [me] like a child experimenting in a new sphere. That was a time of electronic keyboards, you could get different sounds, it was all very new."<ref>Tanmoy Bose, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150924150802/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110726/jsp/entertainment/story_14286339.jsp "His Master's Voice"], [[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|''The Telegraph'' (Calcutta)]], 26 July 2011 (retrieved 28 August 2015).</ref> The experimental nature of the project impressed Shankar's circle of friends in California, he writes in ''Raga Mala'', but confused record companies, who were unable to attribute the music to a recognised [[Music genre|genre]].<ref name="RagaMala p 248" /> The recordings were "left sitting there waiting for someone to show more interest", Shankar recalls, until the involvement of German composer [[Peter Baumann]],<ref>Shankar, ''Raga Mala'', pp. 248, 249.</ref> who had formed a label specialising in experimental music, [[Private Music]], in 1984.<ref name="Baumann bio/AM">Jason Ankeny, [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/peter-baumann-mn0000320056/biography "Peter Baumann"], [[AllMusic]] (retrieved 27 December 2013).</ref> According to the credits listed in Shankar's 1996 box set ''[[Ravi Shankar: In Celebration|In Celebration]]'', further recording for what became ''Tana Mana'' took place during 1986.<ref name="InCelebration credits" />

One of the additional tracks was "Friar Park", featuring Shankar's friend and sometime collaborator [[George Harrison]].<ref>Clayson, p. 397.</ref> Named after Harrison's estate in Oxfordshire, west of London,<ref name="RagaMala p 249">Shankar, ''Raga Mala'', p. 249.</ref> the song was based on [[Charukesi|Raga Charukeshi]] and features Shankar playing both standard and bass sitars<ref name="InCelebration credits" /> (the latter known as the [[surbahar]]).<ref>''World Music: The Rough Guide'', p. 72.</ref> Shankar and Harrison taped the track at [[FPSHOT]],<ref name="InCelebration credits" /> Harrison's home studio, accompanied by [[Ray Cooper]] on [[marimba]] and Markandeya Mishra, a local tabla player.<ref name="RagaMala p 249" />

{{quote box|quote= Using the scale of the [[Carnatic music|Carnatic]] raga "[[Hemavati (raga)|Hemavati]]," I improvised [on sitar] ... I said some words in [[Bengali language|Bengali]] such as "adsola" (cockroach), "chitey gud" ([[jaggery]] – unrefined brown sugar), "Chittagong" (a [[Chittagong|city in Bangla Desh]]), and anything else that spontaneously came to mind. A fun recording.<ref name="TanaMana credits" />|source= – Shankar, discussing the creation of "West Eats Meat"|width=20%|align=left|style=padding:8px;}}
Another 1986 recording was "West Eats Meat", its title suggested by Serafine as a pun on Shankar's earlier cross-cultural projects, such as West Meets East,<ref name="RagaMala p 249" /> his trilogy of albums with classical violinist [[Yehudi Menuhin]].<ref>Lavezzoli, p. 63.</ref><ref name="Massey/Shankar obit">Reginald Massey, [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/dec/12/ravi-shankar-dies "Ravi Shankar obituary"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 12 December 2012 (retrieved 27 December 2013).</ref> Shankar describes the session for "West Eats Meat" as the first time he ever played sitar with a [[jazz]] bassist – in this instance, [[Patrick O'Hearn]].<ref name="InCelebration credits" /> Produced by Baumann at The Enterprise in [[Burbank, California]],<ref name="TanaMana credits">Album credits, ''Tana Mana'' CD ([[Private Music]], 1987; produced by Ravi Shankar, Frank Serafine & Peter Baumann).</ref> the session included contributions from Lakshmi, Khan and former Shankar student<ref>Lavezzoli, pp. 294, 323, 425.</ref> [[Harihar Rao]] (on percussion), and tabla player [[Kumar Bose]].<ref name="InCelebration credits" /> Like Chaudhuri, Bose had become one of Shankar's preferred accompanists on tabla,<ref>Shankar, ''Raga Mala'', pp. 246–47.</ref> following the end of the sitarist's 33-year partnership with [[Alla Rakha]] in 1985.<ref>Lavezzoli, pp. 105, 106–07.</ref>

Other Western musicians who contributed to the album include [[Al Kooper]], on electric guitar, and [[Ric Parnell]], playing [[electronic drum]]s.<ref name="TanaMana credits" /> In both his autobiography and the comments included with ''In Celebration'', Shankar refers to ''Tana Mana'' as having been an enjoyable album to make.<ref name="InCelebration credits" /><ref name="RagaMala p 249" /> The title track was "one of my favourite numbers", he writes – a musical tribute to his mother,<ref>Shankar, ''Raga Mala'', pp. 248–49.</ref> who died in 1936 while Shankar was in Paris with his brother [[Uday Shankar|Uday]]'s dance company.<ref>Shankar, ''My Music, My Life'', pp. 80, 82.</ref><ref>Lavezzoli, pp. 50, 51.</ref> In his 1995 comments on "Tana Mana", Shankar writes: "I lost my sweet mother at an early age, but I clearly remember her singing to me. I dedicate this song to her beautiful spirit."<ref name="InCelebration credits" /> The title translates to mean "body and mind".<ref name="TanaMana credits" /> Another track, "Memory of Uday", is dedicated to Uday Shankar, who died in Calcutta in 1977.<ref>Shankar, ''Raga Mala'', p. 232.</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Release==
Baumann announced that Private Music had recently signed Shankar as a recording artist in October 1986, adding: "He'll be working a lot with synthesizers – it won't be your typically classical kind of Indian record."<ref>Ed Ochs (special issues ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=qSQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Ravi+Shankar&pg=RA1-PA40 "Commitment Takes Quantum Leap in '86: Major Labels Move Quickly To Mine Musical Motherlode"], ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', 25 October 1986, p. N-22 (retrieved 28 August 2015).</ref> Private Music released ''Tana Mana'' in June 1987,<ref>Harry, p. 365.</ref> with the album credited to "the Ravi Shankar Project".<ref name="TanaMana credits" /><ref>[http://www.discogs.com/Ravi-Shankar-Project-The-Tana-Mana/release/1060732 "The Ravi Shankar Project – Tana Mana (CD, Album)"], [[Discogs]] (retrieved 27 December 2013).</ref> Shankar attributed its eventual release, four years after conception, to the advent of [[new-age music]],<ref name="RagaMala p 249" /> a genre that Baumann's record label did much to promote.<ref name="Baumann bio/AM" /> The photograph used on the album cover was taken by Chris Newbert in Hawaii;<ref name="TanaMana credits" /> it was one of Shankar's favourite cover designs among all his releases.<ref name="RagaMala p 249" /> He describes it in ''Raga Mala'' as "a photograph of what looks like an exotic tree but is actually an underwater coral plant".<ref name="RagaMala p 249" />

The association with Baumann led to two other Shankar releases on Private Music:<ref>Lavezzoli, p. 136.</ref> ''Inside the Kremlin'' (1989) and ''[[Passages (Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass album)|Passages]]'' (1990),<ref>Shankar, ''Raga Mala'', pp. 249–50.</ref> the latter a collaboration with American composer [[Philip Glass]].<ref name="Fricke/RS">David Fricke, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121216032043/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/blogs/alternate-take/from-monterey-pop-to-carnegie-hall-the-best-recordings-of-ravi-shankar-20121213 "From Monterey Pop to Carnegie Hall: The Best Recordings of Ravi Shankar"], [[Rolling Stone (magazine)|rollingstone.com]], 13 December 2012 (retrieved 27 December 2013).</ref> "Tana Mana", "Friar Park" and "West Eats Meat" later appeared on ''In Celebration'' (1996),<ref>Bruce Eder, [http://www.allmusic.com/album/shankar-in-celebration-mw0000179804 "Ravi Shankar ''In Celebration''"], [[AllMusic]] (retrieved 8 August 2014).</ref> which Harrison compiled<ref>Clayson, p. 436.</ref> to celebrate Shankar's 75th birthday.<ref>Lavezzoli, p. 197.</ref> The same three tracks, together with "Reunion", were included on the 2001 album ''Bridges'',<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/bridges-best-of-private-music-recordings-mw0000003135 "Ravi Shankar ''Bridges: Best of Private Music Recordings''"], [[AllMusic]] (retrieved 30 August 2015).</ref> a compilation spanning Shankar's years on Private Music.<ref>Richard B. Henderson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BhQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Tana+Mana%22&pg=PA19 "Reviews & Previews" > "World Music"], ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', 19 May 2001, p. 19 (retrieved 30 August 2015).</ref>

==Reception and legacy==
{{Album ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="Greenberg/AM" />
| rev2 =''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>Larkin, p. 2774.</ref>
|rev3 = [[Music Story]]
|rev3score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="Larrède/MusicStory" />
|rev5 = ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]''
|rev5score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="Lewis/Uncut">John Lewis, "Miscellany: My sitar's quantum leaps", ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut Ultimate Music Guide: George Harrison]]'', TI Media (London, 2018), p. 117.</ref>
}}
[[AllMusic]] critic Adam Greenberg writes of ''Tana Mana'': "The reverberant quality of the sitar combines rather well with the chosen electronic accompaniments to form a set of coherent songs, unlike many other such attempted combinations of traditional instruments and technology. The sitar playing is, as usual, superb ... With an extra sarod thrown in, a small front line of synthesizers, and Shankar's friend George Harrison assisting on the [[autoharp]], the pile of musicality that forms allows an unexpectedly coherent, clear, and relatively focused piece of music to emerge."<ref name="Greenberg/AM">Adam Greenberg, [http://www.allmusic.com/album/tana-mana-mw0000191804 "Ravi Shankar ''Tana Mana''"], [[AllMusic]] (retrieved 27 December 2013).</ref>

Writing for the French website [[Music Story]], Christian Larrède describes ''Tana Mana'' as "a very good record". While acknowledging the "risky" experimentation on Shankar's part, Larrède concludes that he "succeeds brilliantly here to spawn [traditional Indian music] with other musical cultures without alienating his knowledge, or selling his soul to the devil of commerce".<ref name="Larrède/MusicStory">Christian Larrède, [https://web.archive.org/web/20141129053026/http://www.music-story.com/ravi-shankar/tana-mana/critique "Critique de ''Tana Mana'', Ravi Shankar" (''in French'')], [[Music Story]] (archived version from 29 November 2014, retrieved 29 December 2016).</ref> Anastasia Tsioulcas of [[NPR Music]] includes "West Eats Meat" in her list of Shankar's five "essential" recordings, and admires it as a "playful track" with its title "a sly nod" to the Menuhin collaborations.<ref>Anastasia Tsioulcas, [https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2012/12/12/167056814/5-essential-ravi-shankar-recordings-from-west-meets-east-to-west-eats-meat "5 Essential Ravi Shankar Recordings, From 'West Meets East' To 'West Eats Meat'"], [[NPR Music]], 12 December 2012 (retrieved 22 August 2015).</ref> John Lewis of ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]'' highlights "Friar Park" as "a lovely piece of fusion" that includes [[tuned percussion]] in the style of [[Steve Reich]] and other "sensitive" accompaniment and production from Harrison as a complement to Shankar's sped-up sitar part.<ref name="Lewis/Uncut" />

In a 2010 article on Shankar, music website Shakenstir described ''Tana Mana'' as having "brought Mr. Shankar's music into the 'New age' with its unique method of combining traditional instruments with electronics".<ref>[http://www.shakenstir.co.uk/index.php/features/ravi-shankar-90th-birthday-celebration/features/16161/ "Ravi Shankar 90th Birthday Tribute"], shakenstir.co.uk, April 2010 (retrieved 27 December 2013).</ref> The article quoted a 2007 interview<ref>[http://www.ravishankar.org/reflections.html "Excerpts from a conversation between Raviji and Satish and Shashi Vyas, June 2007"], The Ravi Shankar Foundation (retrieved 27 December 2013).</ref> in which Shankar defended his association with Western artists such as Menuhin, Harrison, Glass and [[John Coltrane]] against criticism from [[Indian classical music]] purists: "Yes, I performed with Yehudi Menuhin, composed 2 concertos (in the process of writing my third) experimented with jazz, far eastern music, Philip Glass, ballet, orchestration film music, music theatre and so much more – from 1945 ... If you listen to my CD "Tana Mana", I have worked with electronic music 25 years ago. But I did all this without compromising on the solid foundation of our classical music ..."<ref>[http://www.shakenstir.co.uk/index.php/features/ravi-shankar-90th-birthday-celebration/features/16161/2/ "Ravi Shankar 90th Birthday Tribute (page 2)"], shakenstir.co.uk, April 2010 (retrieved 27 December 2013).</ref>

==Track listing==
All songs by Ravi Shankar.

;Side one
{{ordered list
| "Chase" – 2:18
| "Tana Mana" – 3:38
| "Village Dance" – 4:04
| "Seven and 10½" – 3:43
| "Friar Park" – 5:54
}}
;Side two
{{ordered list|start=6
| "Romantic Voyage" – 3:27
| "Memory of Uday" – 3:57
| "West Eats Meat" – 6:08
| "Reunion" – 4:15
| "Supplication" – 3:15
}}

==Personnel==
* [[Ravi Shankar]] – vocals, [[synthesizer]], [[sitar]], [[surbahar]], musical arrangements
* [[Frank Serafine]] – synthesizer, musical effects
* [[Lakshmi Shankar]] – vocals, backing vocals
* [[Shubhendra Shankar|Shubho Shankar]] – sitar, backing vocals
* [[Aashish Khan|Ashish Khan]] – [[sarod]]
* [[George Harrison]] – [[autoharp]], synthesizer, backing vocals
* [[Swapan Chaudhuri]] – [[tabla]]
* [[Kumar Bose]] – tabla, [[Duggi (drum)|duggi]]
* [[Harihar Rao]] – percussion, [[Gubguba|gubgubbi]]
* Prodyot Sen – [[Tanpura (instrument)|tamboura]]
* [[Ray Cooper]] – [[marimba]]
* Markandeya Mishra – tabla
* [[Patrick O'Hearn]] – bass
* [[Al Kooper]] – electric guitar
* [[Ric Parnell]] – [[electronic drum]]s

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* Alan Clayson, ''George Harrison'', Sanctuary (London, 2003; {{ISBN|1-86074-489-3}}).
* Bill Harry, ''The George Harrison Encyclopedia'', Virgin Books (London, 2003; {{ISBN|978-0-7535-0822-0}}).
* Colin Larkin, ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' (5th edn), Omnibus Press (London, 2011; {{ISBN|978-0-85712-595-8}}).
* Peter Lavezzoli, ''The Dawn of Indian Music in the West'', Continuum (New York, NY, 2006; {{ISBN|0-8264-2819-3}}).
* Ravi Shankar, ''My Music, My Life'', Mandala Publishing (San Rafael, CA, 2007; {{ISBN|978-1-60109-005-8}}).
* Ravi Shankar, ''Raga Mala: The Autobiography of Ravi Shankar'', Welcome Rain (New York, NY, 1999; {{ISBN|1-56649-104-5}}).
* ''World Music: The Rough Guide (Volume 2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific)'', Rough Guides/Penguin (London, 2000; {{ISBN|1-85828-636-0}}).
{{refend}}

{{Ravi Shankar}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1987 albums]]
[[Category:Ravi Shankar albums]]
[[Category:Private Music albums]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at FPSHOT]]

Tana Mana - Revision history

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