Songlines chooses best music books of last 25 years

February 2024: In the 25th anniversary issue of Songlines magazine, Nigel Williamson has selected his 10 best books on global music from the past quarter-century. Indian Sun is his no. 8, which made my day.

Events in 2023

11 June: Discussing music biography with Nasreen Munni Kabir and Sanjoy K. Roy at JLF London at the British Library. Here’s the video of the full session.

22 March: I gave a lecture to the Indian Art Circle at SOAS in London, entitled “Patron of the Shankars: Alice Boner and the Uday Shankar Indian dance troupe in the 1930s”.

Abstract: “In the 1930s the dancer Uday Shankar led a pioneering troupe that presented Indian dance and music around the world to enormous acclaim. It might never have happened without his key patron and business partner, Alice Boner, an Indophile Swiss artist, art historian and notable collector of Indian art and antiquities. This illustrated talk focuses on her work with the Uday Shankar troupe and draws on discoveries I made during the research for Indian Sun, my recent biography of the sitar maestro Ravi Shankar – who was a young dancer and musician in the troupe and close to Alice Boner.”

27 January: Lecture at India International Centre, New Delhi, entitled “Ravi Shankar: The Indian Sun who Rose in the East".

22 January: In conversation with Bickram Ghosh at Kolkata Literary Meet, Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata.

Hindustan Times review

1 December 2022: Last year I contributed a written Q&A interview to Bhaskar Chattopadhyay’s book The Cinema of Satyajit Ray, discussing Ray’s work with Ravi Shankar. According to a new review by Shoma A. Chatterji in the Hindustan Times: “The interview with Oliver Craske… is particularly interesting. The long conversation sheds light on what motivated Ray to shift from music masters to composing the music for his films himself.”

Late 2022

23 November: A review I wrote for Songlines of Opera North’s Orpheus at the Lowry, Salford.
20 October: “On Ravi Shankar’s Trail in Calcutta”: a guest piece I wrote for Pallavi Aiyar’s excellent Global Jigsaw column.
20 August: I was interviewed by Dave Webster for BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Book Club.
16 August: BBC Radio 4’s Great Lives focused on Ravi Shankar, as selected by Bobby Seagull. Presented as ever by Matthew Parris. I took part in the expert witness role. Still available on BBC Sounds and on the Great Lives podcast.

Events in 2022

Sun 13 February: I took part in a round-table discussion of the art of music biography for the Presto Music podcast, along with Philip Clark (biographer of Dave Brubeck) and Oliver Soden (biographer of Michael Tippett), chaired by Paul Thomas.Sat 19 February: In conversation with Aaron Cohen for South Asia Institute in Chicago, in connection with their Ravi Shankar exhibition. 4pm Chicago time (10pm UK). A free event, online only: register here.

Sat 26 February: Introductory talk and Q&A panellist for the session What You Need to Know: Ravi Shankar at Southbank Centre in London, 12–4pm (in person). Recommended by Londonist.

Sat 5 March: Signing copies of Indian Sun at Southbank Centre at 6pm, before Ravi Shankar Centenary Concert.

Sat 5 March to Sun 10 July: Indian Sun: Highlights from the Ravi Shankar Archive. I’m co-curating (with Clare Wood) this free exhibition at the Southbank Centre that accompanies the Shankar Centenary season. The star object is his 1944 Kanai Lal sitar – a masterpiece. First time it’s been exhibited. On 5th March there’s a whole day of Shankar-related events. (Exhibition now extended to 10 July)

Thu 26 May: Hart’s Books, Saffron Walden: Discussing Ravi Shankar with Paul Chinnock, with sitar demonstration by Debipriya Sircar, 6.30pm.

Ravi Shankar: Ragamala to Rock Star

I recently consulted on a new exhibition on Ravi Shankar in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune says: ‘If you haven’t made your way to the South Asia Institute (SAI) — which opened in 2019 at 19th Street and Michigan Avenue — for this belated centenary exhibit and affiliated programming, be sure to do so before it closes in early March. Curated by Brian Keigher, Shankar protege Gaurav Mazumdar and biographer Oliver Craske, it features the sitarist and composer’s personal effects, concert ephemera, performance footage, and more.’ Most of the exhibits come from Brian’s fabulous collection, and include a wonderful set of concert posters. There are a number of related events; I’ll be in conversation with journalist Aaron Cohen on 19 February.

Something I worked on during lockdown

The Cinema of Satyajit Ray

Bhaskar Chattopadhyay has included a Q&A interview with me in his new book. I discuss Ravi Shankar and Satyajit Ray’s collaborations and their relationship. And I’m in exalted company in this book…

Events in 2021

I spoke at the following events in 2021. All in-person, unless otherwise stated:

Thu 1 July: Nehru Centre: Online launch of Indian Sun paperback. In conversation with the writer and filmmaker Nasreen Munni Kabir.

Sun 4 July: Bradford Literature Festival. With live sitar demo by Jasdeep Singh Degun.

Thu 15 July: Ways With Words, Dartington. In conversation with William Gallois.

Fri 13 August, The Red House, Aldeburgh: ‘Ravi Shankar & Benjamin Britten: Early Encounters with Indian Music.’ In conversation with Lucy Walker.

Fri 17 September: Zoom webinar for IPAC Book Club, Singapore.

Wed 6 October: Guildford Book Festival. In conversation with Tony Haynes.

Fri 5 November: Talking to Amit Chaudhuri about his music-making in 3 different forms. Online via Nehru Centre.

Sun 14 November: Louder Than Words, Manchester. In conversation with John Robb..

Paperback edition of Indian Sun; new reviews

June 2021: Faber & Faber’s paperback edition of Indian Sun is out. The Guardian have listed it in their paperbacks of the month, and there have been new reviews in the London Review of Books, the Irish Times, and the Herald in Scotland, who say that ‘it leaves the reader in no doubt as to Shankar’s significance, or his extraordinary life’ . Meanwhile the good people at El País in Spain have run a review of Indian Sun in Spanish, even though the book is (so far) only available in English. I also selected some music for, and was interviewed, on BBC World Service’s Weekend (begins around 14m30s).

I’m proud to be published by Faber. In the UK, please support your local bookshop or buy online using one of the many UK sales links here. The paperback is also available in India.

Finding the Raga

29 April 2021: The Guardian have published my review of Amit Chaudhuri’s new book Finding the Raga.

‘Where western pop music is obsessed with chords, and western classical by keys, Indian classical is in thrall to the individual notes in a raga and their interrelationships.’

Books of the Year

Indian Sun has been chosen in the 2020 Books of the Year lists published by the The Times, the Spectator, Times Literary Supplement, Library Journal and BBC Music magazine, while the ever wonderful London Review Bookshop has included it in its music book recommendations for Christmas (below).

Podcast interviews – a round-up

11 February 2021: Talking to Nicholas Gordon for the Asian Review of Books pod.

11 December 2020: Talking all things Ravi & Beatles with Joe Wisbey for his Beatles Books podcast.

13 August 2020: From the Red House (series 2, episode 1) with Lucy Walker of the Britten-Pears Foundation. ‘Tune in to hear about Shankar’s extraordinary life and utter dedication to musicianship, captured vividly in this beautiful book. Also discussed is how Shankar’s life briefly, but significantly, intersected with Benjamin Britten’s at various times. Plus, what our podcasters have been listening to lately.’

15 May 2020: I spoke to Kirk McElhearn & Doug Adams for The Next Track (poor Skype audio, sorry).

Radio and video – a round-up

27 Feb 2021: In conversation with Guillermo Rodriguez at Jaipur Literature Festival.

13 Dec 2020: In conversation with Mark Kidel for Indo-American Arts Council’s Literary Festival: watch us on Facebook or Youtube.

4 Dec 2020: Interview with El Norte de Castilla, moderated by Guillermo Rodriguez (video, in Spanish and English).

22 Nov 2020: In conversation with Swati Bhadoria for Literati, Chandigarh Literary Society’s festival (video).

17 Nov 2020: ABC Radio National in Australia: a long conversation with Trevor Chappell and callers on Overnights. Starts at about 2h14m in.

7 Oct 2020: Discussion with Rafael Bueno of Casa Asia, Sanjay Verma, Ambassador of India in Spain, and Guillermo Rodríguez for Casa Asia (video).

3 Oct 2020: ABC Radio National in Australia: interview with Andrew Ford for The Music Show.

31 July 2020: Talking with Gaurav Mazumdar for Pandit Ravi Shankar Music Foundation (video).

15 July 2020: Talking with Dinesh Patnaik and Amish Tripathi for India Global Week (video).

7 June 2020: I was interviewed by Dave Drexler for KSDS-FM radio (Jazz 88.3, San Diego).

3 May 2020: BBC Radio 4 – Antonia Quirke selected my Music Matters interview for Pick of the Week.

25 April 2020: BBC Radio 3 – Interviewed by Tom Service for Music Matters about Ravi Shankar at 100.

22 April 2020: Interviewed on video by Mathilda Mallinson for Evening Standard (London).

7 April 2020: Interviewed by Bilal Qureshi for All Things Considered on National Public Radio (USA).

7 April 2020: Interviewed live on Talk Radio Europe.

22 March 2020: Interviewed live by Jumoke Fashola for Inspirit on BBC Radio London.

Spain

On 4 December 2020 I discussed Ravi Shankar and George Harrison with Guillermo Rodríguez, director of the Casa de la India, at the Fernán Gomez Centro Cultural de la Villa in Madrid. There was a live session with a small audience (masked and distanced) followed by a webinar with El Norte de Castilla. Here’s an email interview with me plus the webinar video. This coincided with the opening of the Indian Odyssey exhibition at the same venue, and the Ravi Shankar centenary concert on the 3rd at the Auditorio Nacional featuring Shubhendra Rao, Saskia Rao de Haas, David Murphy and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León. It’s incredible they managed to mount all of these; in this blighted year Madrid is the first city in the world to host live events with audiences for the Ravi Shankar centenary – and the first place I’ve given a talk in person.

The book is available in Spain (in English only, so far) from good bookshops such as Libreria La Buena Vida in Madrid.

On 7 October I took part in a webinar entitled ‘Ravi Shankar: East Meets West’ for Casa Asia in Spain, along with Rafael Bueno of Casa Asia, Sanjay Verma, Ambassador of India in Spain, and Guillermo Rodríguez. It was followed by a concert (playing live in Valladolid) by the Ravi Shankar Quartet.

Australia

I spoke at length with Trevor Chappell on ABC’s Overnights on 17 November 2020. Earlier, my interview with Andrew Ford for ABC Radio National's The Music Show was broadcast on 3 October, in an episode which focused on Ravi Shankar and also re-ran a 2010 interview with Anoushka Shankar. Andrew recently reviewed Indian Sun too, so I'm his biggest fan right now.

Canada

The Canadian publication date of Indian Sun was 16 October 2020. The Toronto Star selected it as one of its ‘25 Picks from This Fall’s Book Bonanza’. It’s available from Amazon, Indigo and other booksellers.

Audiobook

The audiobook edition of Indian Sun, which is read by the wonderful Sohm Kapila, is available in the USA, the UK and India, and you’ll probably find it in other places too.

India

In India, Indian Sun was published by Faber & Faber on 30 July 2020 after lockdown delays. It is distributed by Penguin Random House India. For all that Ravi Shankar became a kind of itinerant global citizen, he was deeply rooted in India and always had a home there. The Indian Sun rose in the East, not the West. I too have so many connections to India, personal and professional, so I’m very proud that this book is now published there. Here’s a round-up:

• Book reviews have appeared in India Today, Mint, Business Line (The Hindu), The Wire, The Tribune and Scroll. Also Ramachandra Guha has reviewed it for the TLS.

• Newspaper interviews: I spoke to Shailaja Khanna for The Hindu, Jane Borges of Mid-day and Shreevatsa Nevatia (a review cum interview) for Open: The Magazine.

• Video interviews: in conversation with Guillermo Rodriguez at Jaipur Literature Festival; with Swati Bhadoria for Chandigarh Literary Society’s Literati; with Dinesh Patnaik and Amish Tripathi for India Global Week; and with Gaurav Mazumdar for Pandit Ravi Shankar Music Foundation.

• An extract from the introduction appeared on Firstpost.com, and an extract from chapter 9 (on Ravi’s first solo UK tour, 1956) in The Wire.

• You can order the book from Amazon India. Other booksellers are available. Please support your local one where you can do so safely.

Some articles written

September 2020: Programme notes for Anoushka Shankar’s performance at the BBC Proms; and an obituary of Pandit Jasraj for Songlines magazine.

July 2020: ‘An Explorer By Instinct’: I profiled Anoushka Shankar for the BBC Proms website.

May 2020: ‘Indian Tonic’: I wrote for BBC Music magazine on Ravi Shankar’s work in Western classical forms. 

Shankar 100

Indian Sun was published in 2020 to coincide with Ravi Shankar’s centenary. Many other celebratory events were planned around the world, most of which had to be called off due to the Covid crisis, including a whole series of Shankar 100 events at the Southbank Centre, London, a film season at the British Film Institute, and centenary concerts in London, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and at unconfirmed venues in India. Let’s hope they can all be rearranged. Please note:

• Ravi’s daughters Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar will perform a Ravi Shankar Centenary concert (along with guest artists to be confirmed) at Royal Festival Hall, London on 5 March 2022. (Rescheduled from April 2020).

• I’m curating the exhibition Indian Sun: Highlights from the Ravi Shankar Archives at the Southbank Centre, London. This was intended for April–June 2020, and eventually opened on 5 March 2022.

• The festival Reflektor Anoushka Shankar at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg was rearranged for 4–7 November 2021.

Reviews

Quotes from book reviews and other coverage of Indian Sun can be found on the Indian Sun page.