Ravi Shankar Honored in Memorial Service
About 700 people gathered yesterday in Encinitas, California to say goodbye to world music pioneer and sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, Reuters reports. Shankar’s daughters, Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar, and Olivia Harrison, the wife of late Beatles guitarist George Harrison, were among those at the public memorial service. “He completely transformed [George’s] musical sensibilities,” said Olivia Harrison. “They exchanged ideas and melodies until their hearts and minds were intertwined like a double helix.”
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In a statement, Peter Gabriel praised Shankar, saying he had “opened the door to non-Western music or millions of people around the world,” the BBC notes. Director Martin Scorsese also sent his respects, calling Shankar’s music “ancient and immediate, impassioned and meditative, full of sorrow and joy . . . he was a true master.”
Ravi Shankar died on December 11th. He was 92.