Ananda Shankar had a gloriously colourful career. In the 1960s, he moved from India to Los Angeles to stay with his uncle Ravi Shankar, and found himself teaching sitar to Jimi Hendrix. Back in Calcutta, he began to create a new style, mixing Asian and western influences, from an Indian perspective. His musical experiments continued until his death, nearly seven years ago, by which time he had built up a new following, as an influence on Talvin Singh and the Asian underground scene.

His albums have often been hard to find but this double CD compilation is an entertaining introduction.

Predictably, his wildest and most energetic instrumental pieces were written in the 1970s, when he mixed furious funk riffs with Indian percussion and bluesy sitar solos on tracks such as Dancing Drums or The River, often sounding like the soundtrack for some exuberant Bollywood answer to a spaghetti western. By the 1980s and 1990s his work had become more thoughtful and delicate, but the rhythm patterns were still robust and he was still eager to break down musical barriers.