Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000

Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000
Live album by Ravi Shankar
Released March 27, 2001 (2001-03-27)
Recorded October 6, 2000 at Carnegie Hall
Genre Hindustani classical, world
Length 62:34
Label Angel
Producer Hans Wendl

Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000 is a live album by Indian musician and composer Ravi Shankar, released in 2001 through the record label Angel Records.[1] Recorded at Carnegie Hall in October 2000 as part of a tour with Shankar's daughter Anoushka, the album contains five tracks and presents two ragas. The concert occurred sixty-two years after Shankar's first performance at Carnegie Hall and commemorated his eightieth birthday; the album became his first live recording in nearly twenty years. Full Circle was produced by Hans Wendl, mastered by Scott Hull, and mixed and engineered by Tom Lazarus. Featured are performances by Tanmoy Bose and Bickram Ghosh on tabla, and Anoushka and Ravi on sitar.

In 2001, the album peaked at position nine on Billboard's Top World Music Albums chart and earned Shankar the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album.

Background and composition

Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar performing in 2005

Full Circle was recorded at Carnegie Hall in New York City on October 6, 2000, as part of a tour of the same name in which Ravi introduced his nineteen-year-old daughter and student Anoushka.[1][2][3] Anoushka began studying at age nine and is the only musician in the world trained exclusively by Ravi.[4] The concert commemorated Shankar's eightieth birthday and occurred sixty-two years after his first performance at the venue as a member of his brother Uday Shankar's Indian dance group.[2][5][6] The album also marked Shankar's first live recording in nearly twenty years.[4] The Carnegie Hall concert was held specifically for the purpose of recording a live album, despite Shankar's hesitations about using "traditional recording considerations" to capture improvisational music.[7]

The title was thought out by the promoter and agent, but I guess there's meaning to it. It sounds nice, maybe in the sense that I started performing publicly and coming to Carnegie Hall at age 19. But there's also the connection of Anoushka playing with me.

Shankar on the album's title[7]

Full Circle contains two ragas presented in five tracks totaling just over one hour in length.[1][3] Kaushi Kanhara (a compound raga that combines Malkauns and Darbari Kanada) is separated in an alap portion (an unaccompanied introduction) which includes jor and jhala (playing with pulse and fast pulse), and a gat portion (composition with tabla accompaniment). Mishra Gara is introduced with an aochar (a short alap), and features two gats, in a single thirty-minute track. Hans Wendl worked as record producer and Scott Hull mastered the album, which was mixed and engineered by Tom Lazarus and features performances by Tanmoy Bose and Bickram Ghosh on tabla, and Anoushka and Ravi on sitar.[1] Shankar said he was successful in reaching his goal of presenting variety on the album by incorporating both "ancient" and "contemporary, semi-classical" styles and reaching a musical climax quickly.[7]

Gilbert Heatherwick, an executive for Angel Records, said that the label sought to market the album as an "event record" and would position it "upfront in pop departments".[7] Angel promoted the album through NPR stations and mainstream press outlets as a "human interest story", focusing on his career and how the album exemplifies its title. Full Circle was released in India through the EMI-owned label Virgin India.[7]

Anoushka Shankar's album Live at Carnegie Hall was recorded at Carnegie Hall the same evening.[8][9] The album was released in December 2001 and earned her a nomination for Best World Music Album at the 45th Grammy Awards (2003),[10] making her the youngest musician nominated in the category.[11][12]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Yoga Journal(positive)[5]

Allmusic's Sean Westergaard awarded the album three of five stars and called it an "excellent recording". He complimented Ravi's musicianship and dexterity, particularly during the fast gat section of Mishra Gara, but suggested that alap and jor might be too long for some Western listeners.[1] Yoga Journal's Derk Richardson wrote that Shankar's fast fingering and "ingenious note choices... conspire to create a mesmerizing swirl". Richardson complimented performers of all instruments as well as producer Hans Wendl for recording the ensemble with "striking clarity", and called Shankar's playing "timeless".[5] Bill Meyer wrote in his 2005 review for the Chicago Reader that Shankar was not as fast as he used to be but that he was still a "thrilling improviser".[8]

Chart performance and recognition

Full Circle reached a peak position of nine on Billboard's Top World Music Albums chart the week of May 5, 2001.[13][14] At the 44th Grammy Awards in 2002, the album earned Shankar a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album. This marked Shankar's third Grammy win, after he was previously recognized with Yehudi Menuhin for the collaborative album West Meets East, and with George Harrison, et al. at the 15th Grammy Awards in 1973 for The Concert for Bangladesh.[15][16][17] Following the 2002 Grammy win, tabla musician Bickram Ghosh said he enjoyed the recognition but insisted the "limelight" would not affect his future playing. When The Times of India questioned whether or not tanpura musicians received adequate praise for their contributions to the album, Ghosh responded that the tanpura is a "drawn instrument and not a performance art." Of his performances alongside Shankar, Ghosh rated the Carnegie Hall concert an eight on a ten-point scale, saving a nine rating for the Toronto Ford Centre concert in 1997.[18] According to the Ravi Shankar Foundation, the album also won first place in the Traditional World category at the 5th Annual NAV Music Awards.[19]

Chart (2001) Peak
position
Billboard's Top World Music Albums 9

Track listing

All songs written by Ravi Shankar.

  1. "Introduction I" – 1:37
  2. "Raga Kaushi Kanhara: Alap-Jor-Jhala" – 19:02
  3. "Raga Kaushi Kanhara: Gat in Dhamar" – 10:04
  4. "Introduction II" – 1:37
  5. "Raga Mishra Gara: Aochar/Slow Gat and Fast Gat in Teental" – 30:14

Track listing adapted from Allmusic.[1]

Personnel

Anoushka Shankar in 2007

Credits adapted from Allmusic.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Westergaard, Sean. "Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Woodard, Josef (July–August 2001). "Spheres – Ravi Shankar: Full Circle/Carnegie Hall 2000". JazzTimes (JazzTimes, Inc.): 108. ISSN 0272-572X. Retrieved December 7, 2011. Note: Online version found here.
  3. 1 2 "Legendary Artist Ravi Shankar Receives Grammy Award For Latest Album: 'Full Circle/Carnegie Hall 2000'" (Press release). PR Newswire. March 1, 2002. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Ravi Shankar Returns to Portland with Daughter Anoushka Shankar" (Press release). Oregon Symphony. August 15, 2003. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 Richardson, Derk (September–October 2001). "Ravi Shankar: Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000". Yoga Journal (Active Interest Media): 168. ISSN 0191-0965. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Coming full circle". The Hindu (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India: The Hindu Group). March 10, 2002. ISSN 0971-751X. OCLC 13119119. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Bessman, Jim (March 17, 2001). "Shankar Comes 'Full Circle' with Angel". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 113 (11): 11, 93. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  8. 1 2 Meyer, Bill (November 3, 2005). "Ravi Shankar". Chicago Reader (Creative Loafing). Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  9. ↑ Silva, Joe. "Live at Carnegie Hall". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  10. ↑ "2003 Grammy ballot". San Francisco Chronicle (Hearst Corporation). February 16, 2003. p. 6. ISSN 1932-8672. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  11. ↑ Timberg, Scott (April 13, 2011). "Influences: Sitar player (and daughter) Anoushka Shankar". Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). ISSN 0458-3035. OCLC 3638237. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  12. ↑ Pinglay, Prachi. "Music all the way". The Hindu (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India: The Hindu Group). ISSN 0971-751X. OCLC 13119119. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000 – Charts & Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000". Billboard (Prometheus Global Media). ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Grammy for Indian sitar maestro". BBC News. February 28, 2002. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  16. ↑ Lavezzoli, Peter (2006). The dawn of Indian music in the West: Bhairavi. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 417. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Pt Ravi Shankar gets Grammy nomination". The Times of India (New Delhi, Delhi, India: The Times Group). January 29, 2002. OCLC 23379369. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  18. 1 2 "Coming a Full Circle". The Times of India (New Delhi, Delhi, India: The Times Group). March 17, 2002. OCLC 23379369. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  19. ↑ "News". The Ravi Shankar Foundation. June 2002. Retrieved December 12, 2011.

External links

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