ONE RAGA

WINNER of the 2007 AWARD for EXCELLENCE in HISTORICAL RECORDED SOUND RESEARCH, awarded by the ARSC: Association for Recorded Sound Collections (Library of Congress).
Namaste, friends, and welcome to the ONE RAGA MySpace page :)
"The Dawn of Indian Music in the West" is my book, published by Continuum in the US and UK, Harper Collins in India in December 2008, and available in stores or on Amazon by clicking HERE .
In the 1960s, the wonders of Indian music and its message of peace were spread in the West by Ravi Shankar, George Harrison of the Beatles, and John Coltrane. In 1971, Harrison and Shankar organized the Concert for Bangladesh, the first superstar charity event, in hopes of stopping a war and feeding the hungry. But Indian music also had a profound impact on the work of Mickey Hart and the Grateful Dead, John McLaughlin, Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Talvin Singh, and many others. At the dawn of the 21st century, Indian music's spiritual message is more timely than ever before. Here is its story.
Included in the book are in-depth discussions with Ravi Shankar (who wrote the Foreword), Ali Akbar Khan (perhaps his most extensive interview to date), Zakir Hussain, Mickey Hart, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, Philip Glass, John McLaughlin, Zubin Mehta, Terry Riley, Bill Laswell, Anoushka Shankar, Cheb i Sabbah, and others.
From Ravi Shankar's Foreword: "It is amazing to see the dedication and amount of hard work Peter has gone through in creating this book. Readers will be rewarded with much information--hitherto unknown."
One of the main questions explored by myself and the artists in the book is how Indian music can play a role in the search for world peace, as Hindus, Muslims, and Westerners unite in the creation of ONE RAGA.
Enjoy the book samples posted in the blog section above, as well as the posted song, photos, and videos, all of which I will change on a regular basis, to keep this space fresh and rewarding for all my visiting friends.
All YouTube videos are posted here solely for the non-commercial purpose of providing entertainment and education.
All photographs were provided to me courtesy of the Ali Akbar Khan Archive and Ravi Shankar Archive, and by the otherwise credited photographers.
Namaskar, Peter.
REVIEWS
"Peter Lavezzoli's "The Dawn of Indian Music in the West: Bhairavi" is a superbly written, astonishingly comprehensive, and deeply important book...a must-read for anyone interested in how classical Indian musical forms were embraced by Western audiences. Every time I pick up this book, I learn something new about music I've loved for years, from Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" to Collin Walcott's "Cloud Dance" to Coltrane's "A Love Supreme." Lavezzoli's prose style is top-drawer -- conversational and obviously passionate about its subject, yet also highly learned and insightfully critical -- which makes the book a real pleasure to read. One of the finest books of the year, and one of the best music books I've read in a decade."--Steve Silberman, Wired Magazine
"When reading this book, you really feel you are being guided by someone with a highly developed intuitive feel for integrity and truth in music, as Lavezzoli himself is a musician who is concerned with "the connection between musical and spiritual expression." In this book, historical narratives are interspersed with interviews with the leading musicians in Western and Indian music. These interviews are not your average magazine interviews, however, as the central concern of Lavezzoli is always wisdom, and his questions are always subtle and searching."--Kate Wharton, Straight No Chaser
“Peter Lavezzoli’s study is a gloriously detailed explanation of Hindustani classical music. It takes some education for untrained ears to learn how to listen to Indian classical music, and Lavezzoli does a great job of explaining concepts like raga and tala. The music is dissected with scholarly precision, while the cosmic implications are also investigated thoroughly.”--Brian J. Bowe, Harp Magazine
"No matter how much you may think you know, Lavezzoli has new information for you, arguing quite convincingly that Indian music has deeply influenced both American and European music for over half a century. The result is a long and engrossing read, full of remarkable anecdotes and thoughtful discussions with some of the most important creative people in many different Indian and Western musical domains. Lavezzoli shows us who was first, where they did it, and how things developed from there."--Teed Rockwell, India Currents
"One of the book's strengths is that it embraces the whole footprint of Indian music. Lavezzoli is sure-footed in his discussions of music theory and practice, and the interviews with key figures, reproduced in conversation format, are useful resources. This book fills a noticeable gap for serious Indian music enthusiasts."--Oliver Craske, Times of London
"Lavezzoli presents an excellent overview of the style of Hindustani, or North Indian, classical music. He presents minutely detailed transcriptions of his interviews, all with insightful commentary, of the principal Indian and Western musicians who have been the prime movers behind the presentation and appreciation of Indian music in the West. Almost a reference book in its dense coverage, this book is nevertheless highly readable and entertaining. Summing Up: Highly recommended."--CHOICE
"A compendious and fascinating book. It is impossible to do justice to the scope of Lavezzoli's findings in a short review: suffice to say that whether you want to know exactly how John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain's Shakti came about, or to follow the Ravi Shankar/Frank Zappa/Peter Gabriel trail, everything you need to know is here in abundance."--Michael Church, Songlines
"Lavezzoli's focus is sharp and, without a shadow of a doubt, the finest treatment of what most of Jazzwise's readers would understand by dawn in the context. The heart of the book is a series of marvelous, illuminating Q&A interviews. The only real problem I had with this book was continually going back and re-reading sections instead of reviewing it! High, high praise indeed."--Ken Hunt, Jazzwise
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