Ustad Ali Akbar Khan: RIP Ragas

Being born to an acclaimed local teacher and musician who would eventually become a player in the court of the Maharaja probably had at least a little to do with the fact that Ali Akbar Khan become one of the most well known proponents if Indian classical music in the world. Watching his father, and witnessing the respect that he no doubt garnered, Khan would begin vocal training at a young age. And after moving through a series of different instruments, including percussion, he decided that he was most comfortable on the sarod – a string instrument mostly used in Northern Indian classical music.

Khan first performed in front of an audience at the tender of 14 in 1936. And soon enough, he would be invited to perform in the States by violinist Yehudi Menuhin who referred to Khan as "an absolute genius, the greatest musician in the world." This visit, during the ‘50s, made Khan the first Indian player to impact the Western world – he even appeared on American television. Of course, Ravi Shankar, Khan’s brother in law, would eventually become the most well known exporter of this type of music, but not before the duo performed at George Harrison’s Concert for Bangledesh.

Subsequent to the travelling, performing and teaching – Khan would eventually set up a school with branches in Northern California, Sweeden as well as Indai – Khan was awarded a veritable slew of awards which included the Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts, the President of India Award, the Padma Vibhusan, the Bill Graham Lifetime Achievement Award, the Asian Paints Shiromani Hall of Fame Award and was the first Indian musician to garner the Genius Grant from the MacArthur foundation. Most likely, though, these accolades, while appreciated, weren’t the life’s work of this man. Instead, as a dedicated teacher and performer, Khan sought to extol the virtues of a music that has occasionally been relegated to second class status. As a result of colonialism and the pervasive view of the West that third world nations are incapable of contributing to artistic movements, the raga hasn’t received its ample deference.

Those performances with Meuhin would lead to the West Meets East series popularized by Shankar and the violinist. But even with these releases as well as the hippie embrace of Eastern ideology and music, the West has remained relatively aloof when lauding classical musicians from the sub-continent – Kahn specifically.

And of course now, with his passing last week, Ali Akbar Khan can only influence future musicians through the schools that he founded and the recordings that he’s left behind. To Western ears, it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish between ragas – I know I can’t readily differentiate between to Ravi Shankar records. But with the renewed attention that Indian classical music is receiving in the wake of this international loss, perhaps some folks will gain enlightenment (in terms of music, at least). There’s not apt and easy entrance into this music, although the Americana flavored Wrath of the Grapevine posted Pre-dawn to Sunrise Ragas a few days back. And considering the scarcity of Khan’s work at local record shops, cop it and learn a thing or two.