L. Shankar With Vikku Vinayakram’s 3G

L. Shankar, renowned for his deeply soulful performances of Indian classical music, is a soloist who has also accompanied many of South India’s leading vocalists.  In the 1970s, he cofounded the innovative Indo-jazz group Shakti with John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, and Vikku Vinayakram.  In the 1980s, he introduced a 10-string double violin capable of covering the whole range of the orchestra’s string section from violin to double bass. The Vikku Vinayakram’s 3G is noted for its rhythmic fireworks and features three generations of the first family of Carnatic (South Indian) percussionists. The legendary Vikku Vinayakram, one of the most celebrated percussionists of South India, who is responsible for popularizing the ghatam (clay pot) is joined by his son, V. Selvaganesh (kanjira—small frame drum, hybrid drumset), who was a member of Remember Shakti and toured with Zakir Hussain’s Masters of Percussion and his grandson Swaminathan Selvaganesh (kanjira, konakkol—vocal percussion).