''Improvisations'' is a 1962

LP album The LP (from long playing or long play) is an analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specificati ...

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

. The opening piece is based on music from Shankar's score for

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

's 1955 movie ''

Pather Panchali (, ) is a 1955 Indian Bengali language, Bengali-language Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray in his directorial debut. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's 1929 Bengali Pather Panchali ...

'' with flutist

Bud Shank Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...

playing in

Indian style Sitting is a basic action and resting position in which the body weight is supported primarily by the bony ischial tuberosities with the buttocks in contact with the ground or a horizontal surface such as a chair seat, instead of by the low ...

. Shankar composed "Fire Night" influenced by the 1961 Los Angeles fires and the song features

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musicians Shank (flute) and

Gary Peacock Gary George Peacock (May 12, 1935September 4, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist. He recorded a dozen albums under his own name, and also performed and recorded with major jazz figures such as avant garde saxophonist Albert Ayler, piani ...

(bass) improvising over Indian percussion instruments. There is a clear free jazz influence on tracks like ''Karnataki (Raga Kirvani).'' The concluding

raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

s are in classical Indian style: the first raga, Kirvani, with South Indian origin, and the second, Rageshri, with North Indian origin. The album was released in CD format by

Angel Records Angel Records was a record label founded by EMI in 1953. It specialised in European classical music, classical music, but included an occasional operetta or Broadway score. and one Peter Sellers comedy disc. The famous Recording Angel trademark ...

in 1999 and has been described as a "visionary recording" by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer Heather Phares.

Track listing

#"Improvisation on the Theme Music from Pather Panchali" – 7:07 #"Fire Night" – 4:37 #"Karnataki (Raga Kirvani)" – 6:43 #"Raga Rageshri: Part 1 (Alap)" – 6:50 #"Raga Rageshri: Part 2 (Jor)" – 11:01 #"Raga Rageshri: Part 3 (Gat)" – 3:24

Personnel

*Ravi Shankar - sitar *Kanai Dulla - tabla *Nodu C. Mullick - tampura *Harihar Rao - tampura and dholak *Bud Shank - flute additional musicians on Track 2 *Dennis Budimir - guitar *Gary Peacock - bass *Louis Hayes - drums

References

1962 albums Ravi Shankar albums World Pacific Records albums Angel Records albums Albums produced by Richard Bock (producer) {{1960s-album-stub