Excellent article CE. As someone who misses reading knowledgeable liner notes and critiques of form and structure, and listens to a well-balanced slathering of all kinna sounds, including Norwegian death metal, trad jazz, rockabilly, or forty-minute Ravi Shankar jams...Even dig me some traditional hymns and marching band from time to time. Fuck, I'd sing that Muslim adhan from a minaret in Morocco if they'd let me make-up my own words.

When abroad, I'm an American. When someone asks me stateside what I am, I'm Irish/Italian. It's just a matter of context.

When an American asks an American "what are you?", you would draw a rather queer glance if you replied "American." "What are you" means "what's your heritage" when working under the presumption that you're both American.>> ^kronosposeidon:

Yes, at least in America there are. There are some people who might have one great great grandfather from County Kerry, but when asked what they are they'll say "I'm Irish!" It's just the way some Americans are. Ask a lot of 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. generation Americans what they are (not what their ethnic heritage is, but who they themselves are) and they'll say "I'm Irish/Italian/Chinese/Iranian/Polish/Bengali...." That's probably why that reporter specified "real" Irishman.
My dad's parents were right off the boat from Ireland, which makes me about as Irish as Ravi Shankar. So I'll tell you now, the colleens enjoy a wee dram before tantra. More floothered = more kundalini. I learned that from Guru McGillicuddy. >> ^dannym3141:
What on earth does he mean "a real irishman"? Are there fake ones?

>> ^kronosposeidon:

Yes, at least in America there are. There are some people who might have one great great grandfather from County Kerry, but when asked what they are they'll say "I'm Irish!" It's just the way some Americans are. Ask a lot of 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. generation Americans what they are (not what their ethnic heritage is, but who they themselves are) and they'll say "I'm Irish/Italian/Chinese/Iranian/Polish/Bengali...." That's probably why that reporter specified "real" Irishman.
My dad's parents were right off the boat from Ireland, which makes me about as Irish as Ravi Shankar. So I'll tell you now, the colleens enjoy a wee dram before tantra. More floothered = more kundalini. I learned that from Guru McGillicuddy. >> ^dannym3141:
What on earth does he mean "a real irishman"? Are there fake ones?



Ahhh, i wondered why half the americans i'd ever met/seen on tv/anything said "oh i'm irish/italian/whatever."

I remember one guy telling me he was irish, i said you don't sound it, he said "oh i hide it - don't make me use my irish accent as proof" and then immediately jumped into a passable scottish accent without irony or sarcasm.

Yes, at least in America there are. There are some people who might have one great great grandfather from County Kerry, but when asked what they are they'll say "I'm Irish!" It's just the way some Americans are. Ask a lot of 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. generation Americans what they are (not what their ethnic heritage is, but who they themselves are) and they'll say "I'm Irish/Italian/Chinese/Iranian/Polish/Bengali...." That's probably why that reporter specified "real" Irishman.

My dad's parents were right off the boat from Ireland, which makes me about as Irish as Ravi Shankar. So I'll tell you now, the colleens enjoy a wee dram before tantra. More floothered = more kundalini. I learned that from Guru McGillicuddy. >> ^dannym3141:

What on earth does he mean "a real irishman"? Are there fake ones?

I saw Billy Preston with George Harrison and Ravi Shankar (among others) at the Los Angeles Forum, which will tell you how old I am (roughly). Awesome.

I recently found out that Norah Jones is Ravi Shankar's daughter!

Saw Billy with George Harrison and Ravi Shankar in Los Angeles. Wow!

Tags for this video have been changed from 'ravi shankar, beatles, harrison, sitar, india, learning' to 'ravi shankar, beatles, harrison, sitar, india, learning, 60s' - edited by swampgirl

went to a george harrison/ravi shankar concert years ago, their stuff ranged from slow delicate hypnotic trance to impossible blinding blur and had the audience mesmerized.

Ravi Shankar is all kinds of awesome.

In reply to this comment by benjee:
Also, the conclusion to Richard Dawkin's The Root Of All Evil - Part 2: The Virus Of Faith on Google Video, this is the source material for his book: The God Delusion.

This is a great film in the sense of showing how extreme religion is the root of all that is bad in the world; however I am not an atheist. There is one thing that this film does not address and that is spirituality and how pure spirituality is. For instance religion can only be good by someone with wisdom. Spirituality is the essence of wisdom and don't confuse wisdom for intelligence. Only when wisdom and intelligence are brought to oneself hand in hand one can find enlightenment, but also maintaining innocence like a child. Now true spirituality, which is common amongst many Guru's and Yogi's in India such as Sri Sri Ravi Sankar (www.srisri.org) unites all people of all religions to one God threw meditation, which is peaceful and embraces what love is all about and cares for everything in this world where as religion does not. These religions that are all segregated are evil because of their belief that one is better or truer than the other. Evolution is also real, but the only thing I would challenge Mr.Dawkin's on is the power of spirituality and if you don't meditate you'll never know who God is. God can only be experienced threw meditation and those who think otherwise have a distorted view of this world, but all life is about is experience and for those that wonder why all these bad things happen around the world and God hasn’t helped, it is because he gave us free will to choose and we have done as we please threw control. Also the bible, some of it may have value, but don't think that it's original; the original bible has been changed by the church in order to control people. Another thing is that Jesus,Mohammed,Khisna etc were just messengers of God with divine power. When churches just praise Jesus this is wrong in their sense because most people think Jesus was the one true son of God when in fact we all are and Jesus, Mohammed, Khrisna etc were true representatives of what God is. You should be praising the almighty creator because Mohammed, Jesus Khrisna etc simply were enlightened at birth and enlightenment lead to their miracles, but we can all do this if you find enlightenment and I am not a hypocrite because I have not found full enlightenment yet, but full enlightenment may bring about powers that are divine. One other thing the only religions I have more respect for are those such as the native american religions that are more pure with the earth and Budhism, because they are not a typical religions and they are based on more spirtual values, again those are the only ones I know from studying and there maybe more religions that have a sense of spituality. So if you have no idea what I have just written you are distorted from society, materialism etc and maybe you should try some Kundalini Yoga to help get you back on track or take the art of living course by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and you may start to understand what the word love means.

Many Indian people would disagree with you, Old Spider. If Ravi Shankar thought Jazz was no good for kids, just think of what early musical influence Nora Jones would have missed out on!

Many Indians don't have a problem with their kids meditating either.

What I like about meditation, is that it gets you to an awareness of the part of yourself that is unchanging, the part that is not altered in any way by your life's circumstances, or by what people tell or do to you.

When we can tap into our essential nature, we are learning important skills like resilience and self-acceptance.

Kid's worlds can be as harsh as adult's, especially since they are so vulnerable to adults. I think meditation can be an excellent resource for kids to help them survive not only childhood, but adulthood as well.

If it's taught in fun way, in a non-religious environment, meditation can be such a powerful tool for kids to learn.

Bangla Dhun was the opening sequence to the Concert for Bangladesh. It was performed by Ravi Shankar on the sitar, Ali Akbar Khan on the sarod, Ustad Alla Rakha on the tabla, and Kamala Chakravaty on tamboura. The song is approximately 17 minutes in length.

The song is split into two parts, and almost seems as if it is two separate songs. However, this is not uncommon in Indian classical music. In this composition, the "first" part contains the alap, antra, and main body of the song. The second part is faster and includes the jhala and a fast paced "back-and-forth" between the melody instruments and between the melody instruments and the tabla. Both parts maintain the same melodic structure (see raga).

Since Indian classical music is usually based on improvisation, portions of this composition may also be improvised.

The Concert For Bangladesh was the event title for two benefit concerts organized by George Harrison and held on the afternoon and evening of August 1, 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was first benefit concert of its magnitude in world history, featuring an all-star supergroup of performers that included Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar and Leon Russell. An album was released later in 1971 and a concert film was released in 1972, with later releases for home video. In 2005, the film was re-issued on DVD accompanied by a new documentary. The concert raised US$243,418.50 for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by UNICEF. Sales of the album and DVD continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_for_Bangladesh#Ravi_Shankar_set