Anoushka on Nora\'s trail

Looking forward to it. 😊 Thanks Qwest!

Originally posted by: Qwest

Courtesy Anoushka Shankar

A young Anoushka Shankar gets sitar lessons from her father, Ravi Shankar, in 1989. Shankar had a diminutive version of the instrument made for his daughter when she was 7.

Nice pic.

Very sad that Nora cud never spend time with the father when she was young. Yet she came up tops.

Nora Jones, Come away with me



[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/watch?v=aBKcKQHZXks[/YOUTUBE]

Anoushka Shankar and a 16-piece orchestra perfo... Anoushka Shankar and a 16-piece orchestra performing a composition especially written by her father, Ravi Shankar for George Harrison. Eric Clapton also played the guitar at the end. To view the long version of this composition go to: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1f2...




[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZGmEu_9zkok[/YOUTUBE]

Anoushka Shankar's Turn to 'Rise'
By Susan Stamberg

Pamela Springsteen

Anoushka Shankar & Norah Jones
the closest of sisters

Flashing identical cheeky smiles as they show off their matching tattoos, the beautiful daughters of legendary sitar player Ravi Shankar look - and are - the closest of sisters.

Both Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones also inherited their father's musical talent and have carved out successful careers of their own. Five years ago, however, the pair did not know each other - and their family history is a tale of two worlds. While Norah has shot to fame with a smoky voice and a best selling jazz-tinged album, Anoushka, by following her father and taking up the sitar, has had a lower profile. While touring Britain last year with her father, she spoke of getting to know her long-lost sister after childhoods thousands of miles apart.

While 21-year-old Anoushka enjoyed a close relationship with her father ,Norah, 23 -the daughter of his long-term lover Sue Jones - did not even know who her father was until she was 10. Anoushka, daughter of Ravi's second wife Sukanya, was born in London but jetted between here, California and Delhi as she grew up, learning her father's ancient craft. Norah grew up in a modest home in Dallas with her mother, waitressing and playing the piano in bars.

Anoushka said: "It has been wonderful getting to know Norah. She came to us when I was 16 and by the first year we were already close. So it has been a very normal relationship for the past few years. It's just weird that the press has suddenly caught onto it. Initially the intrusion was very difficult for all of us. All she was trying to do was her music without her dad being the main focus." The day Norah got back in touch with the family five years ago, Anoushka was in the middle of a lesson with her father.

She said: "A soft-spoken girl on the other end of the phone asked to speak to Mr Ravi Shankar . When she said who she was I was stunned because by then I had totally given up on the idea that we would ever have any contact with her."

There were difficulties at first, and she admits Ravi and Norah - known as Geetali, her Indian name, to her father - will probably never relate to each other fully, but the sisters are now close. "She and I have a beautiful relationship," said Anoushka. "I finally have the sister I always wanted. She is incredible. She really has one of the best voices out there. It's wonderful to see someone like her with that kind of substance and integrity getting success." Norah lives in a Brooklyn flat while Anoushka is renting a flat in West Hampstead.

She admits too much work has made her "a bit of an old woman" recently but plans to change all that by spending time with friends from her childhood in Willesden Green. "London feels like home," she said. "I've got a lovely set of friends here, so there'll be lots of parties, but also lots of working on my new album, which will be a move away from Indian classical music.

Shankar himself is delighted at the reconciliation of his daughters. "It is wonderful," he said. "It's a great feeling. I feel very happy about it. Norah was my first daughter and I missed out on eight years of her life so it is wonderful to have her back. "They have so much in common it is mind-boggling, really . In their looks, in their behaviour , in the way they are so quick-witted. They are so fantastic together."

Me and Norah Jones by Laura Smith, Evening Standard, 9th May 2003

When Norah Jones' debut CD, "Come A way With Me," was released nearly two years ago, it floated into record stores with little fanfare and no hype. Two years, eight Grammys and eight million albums later, the recent release of Jones' follow-up, "Feels Like Home," has become an event. Her cherub face has adorned countless articles in major publications, VH1 made the disc available for listening on the Internet a week ago, and major ads are trumpeting the record. All to Jones' dismay.

Anoushka Shankar's new Angel album, Live at Carnegie Hall, is a brilliant recording of her opening set for her father Ravi Shankar, sold out Carnegie Hall, Grammy Award winning performance. She also recorded a song with Sting last year for his album, Sacred Love.

Anoushka Shankar

Background information
Born June 9, 1981 (age 25)
Origin London, England
Genre(s) Indian classical
Occupation(s) Sitarist, composer
Instrument(s) sitar
Years active 1998—present
Label(s) Angel

Anoushka Shankar (DOB. June 9, 1981) a sitar player and composer in the United Kingdom. She is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player, and Sukanya Rajan. Through her father, she is the half-sister of Grammy winner Norah Jones.

Shankar was born in London. When she was nine years old, her father began training her in the sitar. She gave a public performance at the age of thirteen; since then she has become a world famous sitar artist.

After her mother reunited with Mr Shankar, from age seven on she lived in Encinitas, CA, USA where she gave several charity performances as a teenager and graduated from the local public high school.

In an hour-long special on the US public TV network PBS she once explained that this is how she picked up her American accent, which according to her, her Indian fans find "cute".

In 1998, Shankar played at a gala dinnner for guests including British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, in recognition of which she was presented with a House of Commons Shield. In February 2000, Shankar became the first woman to perform at The Ramakrishna Centre in Calcutta. The Indian Television Academy, Asmi, and India Times chose her as one of four Women of the Year in India in 2003. In 2004 she was chosen as one of twenty Asian Heroes by the Asia edition of Time magazine.

Her album Rise was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary World Music category. This was Shankar's second Grammy nomination. She also became the first Indian woman to perform at the Grammy Awards when she performed during the pre-telecast ceremony of the 48th awards.

The name "Anoushka" was inspired by a very good friend of the family – Dr Anne Pennington – and the Russian version came because of the then-popularity of the actress Anoushka Hempel.

She played sitar at the concert for George Harrison called "Concert for George", held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on November 29, 2002 as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death.

Shankar is a supporter of animal rights and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She and her father appeared in a thirty-second public-service announcement against animal suffering.