While Her Sitar Gently Weeps

No one so dominates association with a musical instrument as Ravi Shankar does with the sitar. But Ravi’s daughter Anoushka Shankar has made a profound effort to overcome the giant-shoes, long-shadow burden of being the master’s daughter. The best sitar music (call it raga roll) is like a powerful drug that manifests meditation. This is where Anoushka pulls off a neat trick — at least on her recent Grammy-nominated album Rise — by using modern sounds to set up the listener, she induces a sort of nodding state. Then she enters with her engaging, engrossing string work and leaves the audience with a rush, and a lasting sonic high. More dreamy than her father’s relatively aggressive approach, Anoushka’s pieces draw you in and hold you with a cosmic sound that’s as dizzying as it is dazzling. She sings too; critics have favorably compared her voice to that of her half-sister Norah Jones. She is the first female and youngest person to receive a House of Commons Shield and the first female to play India’s revered Ramakrishna Centre. Drop in and turn on at the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts at 8:00 p.m. For more info on Anoushka visit www.anoushkashankar.com.
Sat., March 24, 8 p.m.