L. Shankar

Carnatic violinist L. Shankar, a founding member of Shakti, performs at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, accompanied by Amit Kavthekar on tabla.

L. Shankar, born in Madras, was exposed to Carnatic music and other styles from an early age. He started studying the vocals at the age of two then violin at five then mridangam at seven. At the age of seven, Shankar gave his first public concert, at a Ceylonese temple, Nallur Kandaswamy. In 1958, Shankar and his two older brothers, formed the Violin Trio along with Palghat Mani Iyer which made history in the 20th century Carnatic music scene. He gained a large following performing with some of the most eminent names in Carnatic music, playing all through India, and was highly sought after by legendary musicians such as Chembai Vaithyanatha Baghavatar, Palghat Mani Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Alathur Srinivasa Iyer and many others. In 1973, John Mclaughlin and Shankar formed the band Turiyananda Sangeet and they co-wrote all the music for it. The band also included Ramnad Raghavan on the mridangam. Zakir Hussain was later added on tabla and the band name was changed to Shakti. Raghavan didn't stay with the project and T.H. Vikku Vinayakaram was added on ghatam for the remainder of those original Shakti days. The band toured extensively around the world. Shankar co-wrote all of the group's material with John McLaughlin, resulting in the release of three world music albums. According to Downbeat music magazine critic Lee Underwood, "All three are masterpieces, of which the deeply moving and technically astonishing Handful of Beauty will stand tall in recorded history for decades to come." L Shankar will be accompanied by Amit Kavthekar on tabla.