The Dawn of Indian Music in the West

by Peter Lavezzoli

"The Dawn of Indian Music in the West," by Peter Lavezzoli. Foreword by Ravi Shankar. In the 1960s, the wonders of Indian music, and its unique message of peace, were spread in the West by Ravi Shankar, George Harrison and the Beatles, John Coltrane, Yehudi Menuhin, and others. In 1971, Harrison and Shankar organized the Concert for Bangladesh, the first superstar charity event, in hopes of stopping a war and feeding the hungry. But Indian music also had a profound impact on the work of Mickey Hart and the Grateful Dead, Philip Glass, John McLaughlin, and many others. At the dawn of the 21st century, Indian music's spiritual message is more timely than ever before. Here is the story of the musical merging of East and West, from the Beatles and John Coltrane to the Asian Underground. Peter Lavezzoli has a rare ability to articulate the personal feeling of music, while also narrating a comprehensive history. In his refreshingly accessible discussion on Indian music theory, he clarifies Eastern musical structures and terminology for Western readers. For this book, Lavezzoli conducted historic in-depth interviews with: Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Zakir Hussain, Mickey Hart, David Crosby & Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, Philip Glass, Jim Keltner, Zubin Mehta, John McLaughlin, Terry Riley, Bill Laswell, Cheb i Sabbah, Anoushka Shankar, Tanmoy Bose, Shujaat Khan, Shubhendra Rao, Saskia Rao de Haas, Mary Johnson Khan, and George Ruckert. These interviews bring an additional immediacy and authority to the book through the personal insights of the musicians themselves. The chapters on Indian music's relationships with jazz, rock, and electronic music are definitive. Includes a glossary and rare photos.

Genres: Music

472 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

Reviews

[Praveen Kumar]

A comprehensive book, with fine details, individual opinions, and analysis.

[Brad]

This book is tremendous in the level of detail it takes and the degree to which it explores every connection that Western Music has made with Indian Classical Music in the 20th century. And given that most of the interaction has been happening in the last century or so, its really almost a history of all the interactions, save that of some classical composers. But other than that Lavezolli covers it all.

Most of this book is excellent and very engaging, but some parts tend to drag. I thought the chapter Karuna Supreme just would not end. Another drawback was the book was redundant at parts. Several chapters were clearly based in large part on the interviews the author conducted, which would be included at the end of every chapter. In some cases the interviews offer insight on the chapter and vice versa, but in many cases Lavezolli will write something in the chapter which is represented directly in the interview. This left me with the feeling at times that 'Ugh, why am I reading this twice?' which shifted to a feeling later in the book 'This'll probably be in the interview again...'

Other then those two things I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book.