# Vasant Rai

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{{mfn|date=September 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|name            = Vasant Rai
|image             = 
|caption        = 
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|background      = non_vocal_instrumentalist
|birth_name      = 
|alias           = 
|birth_date            = 1942 
|birth_place =
|death_date            = 1985 (aged 43)
|death_place =[New York City](/source/New_York_City), United States
|origin          = India
|instrument      = [Sarod](/source/Sarod)
|genre           = [Indian classical music](/source/Hindustani_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](/source/sarod).

==Personal life and education==
Rai's family was born in [Unjha](/source/Unjha), Gujarat. Rai was the last student of Baba [Allauddin Khan](/source/Allauddin_Khan), who is best known as the teacher of [Ravi Shankar](/source/Ravi_Shankar).

He died in his New York apartment shortly after a [Carnegie Hall](/source/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](/source/New_York_City) in 1969 and lived mainly in the [Greenwich Village](/source/Greenwich_Village) area and also for a short time at the [Chelsea Hotel](/source/Hotel_Chelsea) when he was not touring. From 1969 to 1985, he conducted the Alam School of Music in Greenwich Village. [Alla Rakha](/source/Alla_Rakha), [Mahapurush Mishra](/source/Mahapurush_Mishra), [Shamta Prasad](/source/Shamta_Prasad) and [Zakir Hussain](/source/Zakir_Hussain_(musician)) usually accompanied him on the [tabla](/source/tabla). Vasant Rai taught Indian musicians, most notable are sarodist [Pradeep Barot](/source/Pradeep_Barot), mandolin player Emu Desai, and sitar player Shamim Ahmed Khan. Vasant Rai's notable western musicians were [Lex Hixon](/source/Lex_Hixon), [Collin Walcott](/source/Collin_Walcott), and [Don Cherry](/source/Don_Cherry_(trumpeter)).

Rai had been signed exclusively by [Vanguard Records](/source/Vanguard_Records) from 1975 to 1982. Vasant's first commercial recording was by [EMI](/source/EMI) and on the tabla was [Alla Rakha](/source/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](/source/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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Vasant Rai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasant_Rai) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasant_Rai?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.