L. Shankar

Shankar Lakshminarayana (born 26 April 1950), better known as ''L. Shankar'', is an Indian violinist, singer and composer who also goes by the stage name ''Shenkar''. Known for his contributions to world music, he is often regarded as one of the pioneers of East-West fusion, blending the traditions of Indian classical with Western genres such as rock, pop, jazz, and electronic music. His extensive body of work spans a wide spectrum of genres, encompassing vocal and instrumental compositions. He has released 28 solo albums, the two latest being ''Full Moon'' and ''Over the Stars'', which were released in September and August 2024, respectively.

Shankar is credited with inventing the stereophonic double violin (known as the LSD – L.Shankar Double Violin), which covers the orchestral string family's range. His world music albums with the band Shakti during the mid-70s became the "standard to gauge the playing and composing abilities of any world musician following in Shakti's expansive wake". In 1990, Shankar's talam-bending (time cycles of 9 3/4 & 6 3/4 beats) ''Pancha Nadai Pallavi'' album was on the ''Billboard'' top ten world music chart for three months, becoming the first traditional Indian record to attain this status. His 1995 Raga Aberi album was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the Best World Music Album category.

With Peter Gabriel, he worked on the Grammy winning album ''Passion'' (1989), which was the soundtrack album for Martin Scorsese's '' The Last Temptation of Christ'' (1988). He also wrote and performed vocals on Mel Gibson's ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004) which won a Dove Award for Instrumental Album of the Year at the 36th GMA Dove Awards. Shankar worked on the soundtrack for the 2002 film ''Queen of the Damned'' with Jonathan Davis and Richard Gibbs and recorded eight songs of which five were picked for the movie. Additionally, he collaborated on the original score for NBC's TV series ''Heroes'' with Wendy & Lisa. Shankar is ranked amongst the greatest violinists of popular music by Digital Dream Door.

Early life, family and education

Shankar was born in Madras, India, on 26 April 1950 as the sixth child into a family of musicians. His three sisters studied vocal music whereas Shankar and his two brothers - Vaidyanathan and Subramaniam were trained in both vocal music as well as violin playing. His father V. Lakshminarayana was a renowned Carnatic vocalist and violinist and his mother L. Seetalakshmi was a trained singer and played the veena. Considered as a child prodigy, Shankar began vocal training with his father at the age of two. Within a year, he was able to hum complex lines of traditional Indian compositions. Having a vocal range of 5 1/2 octaves Shankar often emphasizes the importance of vocal training in addition to learning an instrument to better grasp the ornamentation in Indian music. He said, "If you learn vocals and instruments and get an all-round education in music, it makes you a better performer".

By the age of three, Shankar was deeply immersed in music, regularly listening to the lessons his father gave to his older siblings and other disciples. Though considered too young to play an instrument and unable to participate, he memorized many of the songs they practiced through constant listening and was able to sing along. He recalled, 'When my brothers practiced violin, I would imitate with an imaginary violin made of two sticks.' On his fifth birthday, when offered a tricycle, Shankar instead asked for a violin. He received his first violin (quarter size violin from Germany) at the age of 5 and when he began playing the violin, the lines he practiced were vocal melodies he had learned. At the age of 7, he gave his first public concert during a festival at the Nallur Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna.

Apart from singing and playing the violin, he pursued professional mridangam playing until the age of 12. He said "my father really insisted that besides learning your melodic instrument, you also learn percussion". However, he had to discontinue at his father's suggestion when he began to develop calluses on his hands.

During the ethnic riots in 1958, their house was raided and set ablaze. The family fled Sri Lanka, leaving everything behind and returned to Madras, India. In that year, Shankar and his two older brothers formed the Violin Trio which "made history in 20th century Carnatic music" scene.

Shankar gained considerable reputation across India in his early youth as an accompanist and filled in for some of the most eminent names in Carnatic music often performing solo concerts that lasted between two and three hours. By the age of 17, Shankar had become a highly sought-after violinist, performing regularly on national television and recorded several albums. His early success and his improvisational ingenuity is often credited to his consistent discipline and demanding practice routine for hours. He said "father used to get up around 4:00 AM and wake us up. He'd practiced with us for an hour or more. We went to school at 7:30 but when we returned at 1:30 father was waiting for us with another lesson. After dinner we'd all get together and have a kind of jam session."

In spite of his early success as a musician, Shankar faced pressure from his family to have a fall back career as an engineer. He obtained a B.S. in physics from India and his father tried to acquire an engineering seat for him. Shankar, however, believed that music was his true calling. He even vowed to break 108 coconuts at the Luz Pillayar Temple in order not to secure admission and was delighted when the results favored him.

In 1969, he was offered a teaching position at Wesleyan University and moved to the US. He performed regularly on campus while pursuing a PhD in ethnomusicology, which he completed in 1974.

Influences

Shankar was encouraged by his father to absorb influences from the Northern Indian music traditions as well as Southern Indian traditions. According to Shankar "there is not one music that is superior to another – just different ways of expressing the beauty of our culture." He was also advised to become familiar with Western classical music and had been exposed to various Western genres such as rock and pop music since his early teens. At Wesleyan University, he studied world music and learnt the music systems of different cultures. According to Shankar, "Music is universal, it connects all races, religions and ages. It's the only language everyone can understand and feel". Shankar had always been open to experimentation in music. He said that from a young age, he perceived music visually and often compared it to the colors in an artwork. He said "I've tried to combine different traditions…musical styles are like colors in painting: there are so many things you can do with them".

Cross-cultural collaborations

Shankar was among the early pioneers in the 70s who introduced South Indian music to a Western audience that was more accustomed to North Indian music at that time. He often merged Carnatic & Hindustani styles in his performances and collaborated with jazz musicians to bridge the gap between Eastern and Western music traditions. His early American recording sessions were on Archie Shepp's '' Attica Blues'' and Clifford Thornton's ''Communication Network'' in 1972. His understanding of the Western music system and having the "sensitivity, the control, the feeling, and the knowledge" of classical Indian enabled the representation of the East/West blend in music that led to the founding of the group Shakti with guitarist John McLaughlin. He taught McLaughlin ragas, rhythms and ornamentation and in turn learnt about harmony and jazz Shakti received overwhelming critical acclaim. According to Naresh of Man's World magazine, Shankar's compositions in Shakti, were praised for their innovativeness and "for how effortlessly they projected his very own voice."

Double violin (LSD)

Since 1980, Shankar has been using the double violin - a 10-string, stereophonic double-necked electric violin - for all his performances and recordings which he designed and had it made by Ken Parker of Stuyvesant Sound in New York. The instrument made its debut in 1981 on Phil Collins' solo album ''Face Value'', as well as on Shankar's own album ''Who's to Know