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Public Transit: Buses 55, 80, 51 – Laurier Metro Station

Parking:
ClickPark – behind the church complex at 5043 de Bullion Street (one-way northbound from St-Joseph)

A rare opportunity for Montreal audiences to hear this master of the Carnatic classical tradition, joined by three outstanding Indian percussionists.

A legendary figure in Indian music, violinist, vocalist and composer whose extraordinary career spans more than five decades, L. Shankar comes to Montreal for a special concert presented by Traquen’Art and the Kabir Centre.

A musician of extraordinary virtuosity, L. Shankar has devoted his career to pushing the boundaries of his art without ever losing touch with his roots. His journey has taken him from the most demanding forms of South Indian classical music to the international stages of jazz, rock and world music, making him one of the leading proponents of musical dialogue between East and West. Asia News has described him as “one of the most audacious architects of world music.”

From Shakti to the world’s great stages
A child prodigy — he gave his first public concert at the age of seven — L. Shankar developed an exceptional command of voice, violin and Carnatic rhythmic traditions from an early age. His meeting with guitarist John McLaughlin marked a major turning point. Together, in the 1970s, they founded what would become Shakti, with Zakir Hussain and Vikku Vinayakram, opening up a largely unprecedented musical territory between Indian tradition and jazz improvisation. Cash Box magazine described Shankar and McLaughlin as “the pillars of Shakti, one of the decade’s most innovative musical groups.”

His playing also fascinated Frank Zappa, who went on to produce his album Touch Me There. In a 1979 interview with BAM Magazine, Zappa declared: “I think Shankar’s probably the best violinist in the world; he’s really incredible.”

Over the course of an extraordinarily diverse career, L. Shankar has collaborated with a constellation of major artists, including Peter Gabriel, Sting, Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Talking Heads, Bruce Springsteen, Jan Garbarek, Trilok Gurtu and many others. His voice and violin have played a particularly significant role in Peter Gabriel’s musical world, from So to Passion, the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, and Secret World Live.

A unique instrument, an unmistakable sound
Inseparable from L. Shankar’s musical identity, his spectacular 10-string stereophonic double violin gives him an exceptional range and an almost orchestral palette of timbres. In his hands, the instrument moves effortlessly across registers, becoming by turns lyrical, meditative, incandescent and rhythmically electrifying.

Yet behind this instrumental innovation stands, above all, a great master of Carnatic classical music. L. Shankar is particularly renowned for his mastery of Ragam Tanam Pallavi, one of the tradition’s most demanding forms, in which the exploration of raga, melodic improvisation and rhythmic complexity come together in a constantly evolving dialogue. His recent work continues to reflect this commitment: his 2024 album Full Moon reached No. 3 on the World Music Charts Europe in 2025.

An exceptional encounter with the Carnatic tradition
For this Montreal concert, L. Shankar will be joined by three outstanding masters of Indian percussion, bringing together several generations directly connected to the history of Shakti.

Two-time Grammy winner and Shakti member Selvaganesh Vinayakram is the son of the legendary T. H. Vikku Vinayakram, percussionist in the original Shakti lineup alongside Shankar, John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain. Joining him is Swaminathan Selvaganesh, Selvaganesh’s son and Vikku Vinayakram’s grandson, carrying this remarkable musical lineage into a third generation. Tabla player Amit Kavthekar is part of another distinguished lineage: he studied with Zakir Hussain and with Hussain’s father, the great master Alla Rakha.

Around L. Shankar, then, a remarkable musical genealogy takes shape: three generations of the Vinayakram family and, through Amit Kavthekar, the lineage of tabla masters Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain. It is a story that reaches directly back to the origins of Shakti and opens a new chapter in Montreal.

Through raga, improvisation and compelling rhythmic dialogues, the four musicians will invite audiences into the heart of a centuries-old Carnatic tradition that remains vibrant and continually evolving.

For Montreal audiences, this evening offers a rare opportunity to experience L. Shankar in a setting that reaches directly into the foundations of his art, surrounded by musicians whose own journeys tell, in their way, part of that same story.

On stage:

Shankar
10-string double violin, vocals
Selvaganesh Vinayakram
kanjira, mridangam, konnakol (vocal percussion)
Swaminathan Selvaganesh
kanjira, konnakol (vocal percussion)
Amit Kavthekar
tabla