Ananda Shankar was an Indian musician, singer, and composer best known for fusing western and eastern musical styles. In the late 1960s, Shankar travelled to Los Angeles, where he played with many contemporary musicians including Jimi Hendrix. There he was signed to Reprise Records and released his first album with original Indian classical material alongside sitar-based cover versions of popular hits. Returning to India in the early 1970s, Shankar continued to experiment musically and in 1975 released his most critically acclaimed album, “Ananda Shankar And His Music”, a jazz-funk mix of eastern sitar, western rock guitar, tabla and mridangam, drums and Moog synthesizers.