L. Shankar

For the Hindustani classical vocalist, see Lakshmi Shankar. For other uses, see Shankar.

L. Shankar (Shenkar)
L Shankar (Shenkar)
L Shankar (Shenkar)
Background information
Birth nameShankar Lakshminarayana
Also known asL. Shankar, Shankar, Shenkar
Born (1950-04-26) 26 April 1950 (age 74)
Madras, India
OriginIndia
Genres
Occupations
  • Vocalist
  • electric violinist
  • lyricist
  • arranger
  • producer
Instruments
  • Double Violin
  • vocals
  • keyboards
Years active1960s–present
Labels
Formerly of
Websitelshankar.com

Shankar Lakshminarayana (born 26 April 1950),[1] better known as L. Shankar, is an Indian violinist, singer and composer who also goes by the stage name Shenkar. Known for his innovative contributions to world music,[2] he is often regarded as one of the pioneers of East-West fusion, blending the rich traditions of Indian classical with Western genres[3] 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”.[4] According to Downbeat’s Critics Poll, he was listed fourth among Established Violinists, and came in second in the “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition” division in 1978.[3] 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 reach those heights.[4] His 1995 Raga Abheri album was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the Best World Music Album category.[5]

With Peter Gabriel, he worked on the Grammy winning album Passion (1989), the soundtrack album for Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ (1988),[6] and 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. He also 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.[6] Additionally, he collaborated on the original score for NBC's hit TV series Heroes with Wendy & Lisa. As an acclaimed musician, Shankar is ranked amongst the greatest violinists of popular music by Digital Dream Door.[7]

  1. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 356. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "38th Annual GRAMMY Awards". grammy.com. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  6. ^ a b "How Jonathan Davis became "a 400-year-old vampire" to write songs for Queen Of The Damned". Metal Hammer. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  7. ^ "The Greatest Violinists of Popular Music". digitaldreamdoor.com. Retrieved 15 September 2024.