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,
With Peter Gabriel, he worked on the Grammy Award 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.
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.
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.' 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. and his father tried to acquire an engineering seat for him. Shankar, however, believed that music was his true calling.
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." At Wesleyan University, he studied world music and learnt the music systems of different cultures. Shankar had always been open to experimentation in music. He often merged Carnatic & Hindustani styles in his performances 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. He made a prototype with cardboard and spent about a year and a half improving the design. According to Shankar, "It was not easy to get anyone to take my violin seriously until I crafted one myself putting it together piece by piece and then suddenly they responded". He and Parker spent hours testing various materials and forms and he made sure that both necks were equally strong to avoid a tendency to predominantly play on only one. In addition to providing a wide range of 5 ½ octaves, playing on one neck produces a sympathetic effect on the other. The horizontal rib can be positioned beneath the chin or supported against the chest (Indian style) while playing. According to him, "It's musically more satisfying". It features performances by renowned musicians such as Don Cherry, TH Vinayakram, and Trilok Gurtu. The film was also nominated for best documentary at the Cannes Film Festival.