Anoushka Shankar at SFJAZZ Spring Festival at Herbst Theater

The urge to build bridges flows through sitar star Anoushka Shankar’s veins. The daughter of legendary sitar master Ravi Shankar, she was raised straddling east and west, moving between London, Delhi and California. A dedicated acolyte of her father who has immersed herself in classical Hindustani music, Anoushka has forged an independent identity by collaborating with a vast array of artists from jazz icon Herbie Hancock and violinist Joshua Bell to the DJ duo Thievery Corporation, rock band Jethro Tull and Asian Underground pioneer Karsh Kale. Her latest project is her most creatively ambitious, tracing the Roma people’s diaspora from their forgotten homeland in Rajasthan to Spain, where Gypsy culture mixed with Judaic and North African currents to form the passionate sound of flamenco...

read more

The urge to build bridges flows through sitar star Anoushka Shankar’s veins. The daughter of legendary sitar master Ravi Shankar, she was raised straddling east and west, moving between London, Delhi and California. A dedicated acolyte of her father who has immersed herself in classical Hindustani music, Anoushka has forged an independent identity by collaborating with a vast array of artists from jazz icon Herbie Hancock and violinist Joshua Bell to the DJ duo Thievery Corporation, rock band Jethro Tull and Asian Underground pioneer Karsh Kale. Her latest project is her most creatively ambitious, tracing the Roma people’s diaspora from their forgotten homeland in Rajasthan to Spain, where Gypsy culture mixed with Judaic and North African currents to form the passionate sound of flamenco. Based on her recent Deutsche Grammophon album Traveller, the Gypsy Journey program features an all-star cast of Indian classical and flamenco musicians, reconnecting the shared, centuries-old roots of Spanish and Indian sounds. Combining the syncopated drama of flamenco with the melodic sophistication of northern India, Anoushka Shankar takes the latest bold step in a world music legacy.

show less