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Ravi Shankar: A life-long mentor, a new-found friend

First meeting with Ravi Shankar - September 21, 2002.

In concert for Sri Chinmoy, his students & guests; October 11th, 2002.

While still a teenager in the mid-sixties, I fell madly in love with the music of Ravi Shankar. I remember repeatedly playing this 3 record set entitled “Anthology of Indian Music Vol.1”. While naively attempting to play along with these great masters on my saxophone, I would fantasize about playing on stage with them. I guess the real gist of this story is: never give up on your dreams.

In mid-September, I was invited to accompany Sri Chinmoy and a group of his students to meet with Ravi Shankar and his family in San Diego. It was a most beautiful evening where I was personally introduced to the maestro, although at the time I could not have imagined where this would eventually lead.

It was hardly 2 weeks later when I was asked by my teacher, Sri Chinmoy, if I knew how to play tanpura; a 4 or 5 stringed drone instrument used to accompany the soloist in Indian classical music. When he told me that I would be accompanying Ravi Shankar in a special performance for the Centre in New York, I nearly had a heart attack! I asked myself: “How is this possible? I’m not even a string player!” I immediately went out and sought a teacher to show me the proper technique. After a 1-week crash course, I prayed that I was ready.

Needless to say, the concert was the experience of a lifetime. Since then I have performed with Pandit-ji in Philadelphia and with his daughter, Anoushka in Poukeepsie, New York.

To you, the reader, I wish to say once more: Never give up on your dreams.

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