Shambhu Das

Shambhu Das (born 1934) is an Indian classical musician and educator. He is best known for his long association with Ravi Shankar, on whose behalf Das has acted as an ambassador for Indian music in Canada since the early 1970s, and his friendship with George Harrison of the Beatles, whom Das helped teach sitar in 1966. His assistance in Harrison's immersion in Indian culture helped inspire the Beatles' career direction and, due to the band's popularity and influence, the direction of the 1960s counterculture. In 1970, Das established the Indian Music Department at Toronto's York University, where he taught for four years.

Das recruited the Indian musicians and played sitar on Harrison's 1968 solo album ''Wonderwall Music'', which was partly recorded in Bombay. He occasionally accompanied Shankar at his concerts and has performed himself throughout North America, Europe and India. From the 1990s, Das's work has increasingly drawn on the connection between music and meditation as a means of physical and spiritual healing. In the early 2000s, he formed the Indo jazz ensemble Shanti. A 24-hour sitar recital he gave in Toronto in October 2004, undertaken as a benefit for those affected by floods in India and Bangladesh, is recognised by ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest non-stop sitar performance.

Early years and musical apprenticeship

Das was born in the Hindu holy city of Benares, in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. He was brought up in the Bengali Hindu tradition. His father was a restaurateur who supplied food to the Allied forces during World War II. Das says his first memory of hearing an Indian classical raga was a performance by a shehnaist outside a temple.Geoffrey Clarfield
"Good Enough to Teach the Beatles, But Not to Record"
''National Post'', 15 November 2010, p. A12 (retrieved 3 February 2019).

Das was first taught sitar by a music tutor who visited his home. He then attended Theosophical college, where his studies continued under the Dagar brothers. He also studied tabla and vocal technique.
During a concert held at the college, Das met Ravi Shankar, whom Das asked to accept him as a sitar student. He attended Benares Hindu University, graduating with a master's degree in music in 1959. That year, Das joined Shankar in Bombay, where he became part of Shankar's household, occasionally accompanied his guru in concert, and also served as his personal assistant. He studied sitar under Shankar in the strict guru–shishya traditionJeffrey W. Cupchik, "Polyvocality and Forgotten Proverbs (and Persons): Ravi Shankar, George Harrison and Shambhu Das", ''Popular Music Journal'', April 2013 (vol. 8, no. 1), p. 81; available a
academia.edu
(retrieved 6 February 2019). in which Shankar had trained under Allauddin Khan.

Kinnara School of Music

By the early 1960s, Das was one of Shankar's most advanced students, or protégés, along with Shamim Ahmed Khan, Kartick Kumar and Amiyo Das Gupta. He was among the musicians selected to teach instrumental classes when Shankar founded his Kinnara School of Music in Bombay, which opened in July 1962. The school staged recitals and productions of Shankar's orchestral works, such as ''Nava Rasa Ranga'' in 1964, performed by the teachers and students.

In September 1966, Das assisted in teaching sitar to George Harrison of the Beatles. After fans and the press learnt of Harrison's presence in Bombay, prompting scenes of Beatlemania outside his hotel, Das accompanied Shankar and Harrison to Dal Lake in Kashmir, where Harrison's training continued. He and Das struck up a friendship as the majority of Harrison's musical education involved learning Indian scales,Neil Spencer, "Eastern Rising", '' Mojo Special Limited Edition: 1000 Days That Shook the World (The Psychedelic Beatles – April 1, 1965 to December 26, 1967)'', Emap (London, 2002), p. 78. a task that Shankar delegated to Das. During this visit by Harrison, Das escorted him to Benares and other sites of cultural significance. There, Harrison saw first-hand the aspects of Hindu culture and religiosity that would inform his work with the Beatles, including their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', and influence the direction of the 1960s counterculture in the West.

When Shankar moved to Los Angeles in 1967 and set up a branch of the Kinnara school there, Das took over the running of the Bombay school. In January 1968, he played sitar on Harrison's ''Wonderwall Music'' album, which was recorded at the His Master's Voice studios in Bombay. Das recruited the other local musicians for the sessions, which also produced the Beatles' 1968 B-side " The Inner Light". He appeared in the film ''Raga'', a documentary on Shankar that includes scenes filmed over 1967–68 at the two Kinnara centres. In an interview in 2005, Das told ''The New Indian Express'' that he recalled visiting Chennai (formerly Madras) in 1968 to film the scenes there for ''Raga''.

Writing in 2013 in the journal ''Popular Music History'', ethnomusicologist Jeffrey Cupchik said that Das's contribution to Harrison's musical and spiritual development, and its considerable influence on Western culture, had arguably been overlooked, as historians tend to focus only on the enduring association between Harrison and Shankar. He described Das and Harrison's friendship as "a relationship that has yet to be addressed fully by popular music historians".Cupchik, p. 83.

Toronto

In 1970, Shankar organised for Das to move to Canada to help promote Indian classical music in North America, through a program of lectures, public performances and private tuition.Times of India staff, "Shambhu Das Sets World Record", ''The Times of India'', 29 July 2005; available a
shambhudas.com
Between 1970 and 1974, Das taught at York University in Toronto, where he co-founded the Indian Music Department. He then taught sitar and vocal technique at Sangeet, a private music school.

Continuing his association with his guru, Das helped organise Shankar's concerts in Canada.Cupchik, p. 70. He also acted as Shankar's business manager, negotiating fees for private recitals for celebrities such as Peter Sellers. In August 1976, Das played tambura at Shankar's dusk-to-dawn recital at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, a concert celebrating the twentieth anniversary of his first public appearance in the US."Ravi Shankar's 1976 All-Night Concert Out on East Meets West Music"
Unfinished Side, 16 July 2014 (retrieved 4 February 2019). Das himself performed concerts in India, North America and Europe, and made appearances on CBC television and radio.

In 1994, Das made two cassette recordings, titled ''Dhyanam'' and ''Shanti Vani'', of musical pieces designed to accompany yoga and meditation practice. The two collections were endorsed by Sri Chinmoy

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases