'Ananda Shankar'

To my surprise, I learned that Ananda Shankar is a guy. Which is a bit disappointing only because I thought "Ananda" would be a pretty cool name for a girl and the entire time I listened to this self-titled album, I pictured a female version of Ravi Shankar (essentially, sans beard) doing Rolling Stones covers.

Shankar is actually Ravi's nephew. Despite the sitar genius being in the family tree, Ananda learned the instrument at Banaras Hindu University under a different teacher.

In the 1960s, Shankar went to Los Angeles and jammed with musicians including Jimi Hendrix. This is when he released Ananda Shankar.

Shankar also wound up providing musical direction for a number of films and television shows. Later, his music was used post-humonously in the NBA sitcom "Outsourced" about an American sent to an Indian call center to manage.

But, to me, she'll always be Ravi's good-looking kid nephew.