{{mfn|date=September 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Use Indian English|date=March 2023}} {{Infobox musical artist |name = Vasant Rai |image = |caption = |image_size = |background = non_vocal_instrumentalist |birth_name = |alias = |birth_date = 1942 |birth_place = |death_date = 1985 (aged 43) |death_place =New York City, United States |origin = India |instrument = Sarod |genre = Indian classical music |occupation = |years_active = |label = |website = |current_members = |past_members = }} '''Vasant Rai''' (1942–1985) was an Indian musician who played the Indo-Afghan instrument the sarod.
==Personal life and education== Rai's family was born in Unjha, Gujarat. Rai was the last student of Baba Allauddin Khan, who is best known as the teacher of Ravi Shankar.
He died in his New York apartment shortly after a Carnegie Hall performance.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raga.com/cds/226/226interview.html |title=Vasant Rai biography and interview |publisher=Raga.com |access-date=2012-04-04}}</ref>
==Career== Rai had been visiting the United States since his teen years. He settled in New York City in 1969 and lived mainly in the Greenwich Village area and also for a short time at the Chelsea Hotel when he was not touring. From 1969 to 1985, he conducted the Alam School of Music in Greenwich Village. Alla Rakha, Mahapurush Mishra, Shamta Prasad and Zakir Hussain usually accompanied him on the tabla. Vasant Rai taught Indian musicians, most notable are sarodist Pradeep Barot, mandolin player Emu Desai, and sitar player Shamim Ahmed Khan. Vasant Rai's notable western musicians were Lex Hixon, Collin Walcott, and Don Cherry.
Rai had been signed exclusively by Vanguard Records from 1975 to 1982. Vasant's first commercial recording was by EMI and on the tabla was Alla Rakha.{{fact|date=March 2023}}
Vasant Rai's sarod was a gift from his guru Allauddin Khan, and was made by Allauddin Khan's younger brother Ayet Ali Khan in the 1930s.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}
==References== {{Reflist}} *[https://www.proquest.com/docview/123761903/fulltextPDF/C7DE32ED59441FCPQ/20?accountid=196403&sourcetype=Newspapers ] *[https://www.proquest.com/docview/119576466/fulltextPDF/C7DE32ED59441FCPQ/5?accountid=196403&sourcetype=Historical%20Newspapers ] *[https://www.proquest.com/docview/424904910/C7DE32ED59441FCPQ/14?accountid=196403&sourcetype=Newspapers ] *[https://books.google.ru/books?id=Wx218EFVU8MC&pg=PA314&dq=%22Vasant+Rai%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiGu4mP3r6PAxU2h_0HHfnHAjEQ6AF6BAgNEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Vasant%20Rai%22&f=false& Dalit Movement in India and Its Leaders, 1857-1956] *[https://books.google.ru/books?id=OSZKCXtx-wEC&pg=PA324&dq=%22Vasant+Rai%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3sOzO3r6PAxWhhf0HHSn-I_A4ChDoAXoECAkQAw#v=onepage&q=%22Vasant%20Rai%22&f=false The Dawn of Indian Music in the West]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Vasant}} Category:1942 births Category:1985 deaths Category:Hindustani musicians Category:Sarod players Category:Indian emigrants to the United States Category:People from Satna Category:Maihar gharana Category:Vanguard Records artists Category:20th-century Indian musicians Category:American people of Gujarati descent Category:American musicians of Indian descent Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:Musicians from Manhattan Category:People from Greenwich Village