L. Shankar with Selvaganesh Vinayakram & Swaminathan Selvaganesh

In 2013, Chicago’s World Music Festival opted to level up with the kind of performance that barely existed otherwise in the United States—a 14-hour marathon of both Carnatic and Hindustani classical music, with the sun setting and rising again through the world’s largest Tiffany dome. The event, Ragamala, has since become a mainstay of World Music Festival, drawing several thousand people each year. Many ragas are intended to be played during certain parts of the day, meaning they often cannot be included during concerts in more traditional settings. Ragamala’s design allows it to feature a greater repertoire of works, both because of its expansive timeframe and its mix of Hindustani and Carnatic musicians. For the first time, in a special eight-hour presentation that runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Ragamala comes to Knoxville.

One of the true crossover stars of Indian music closes the inaugural Ragamala at Big Ears. Soon after moving stateside in the late ’60s, L. Shankar joined Shakti, the pioneering fusion band alongside John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, and Vikku Vinayakram. His star in that band enabled collaborations with the likes of Phil Collins, Lou Reed, Yoko Ono, Swans, and a cast of countless others. Around this time, he also invented the double violin, or LSD, a 10-string stereophonic beast with enormous range and versatility. One of the best-selling Indian artists of all time, Shankar has remained productive well into his 70s, releasing two albums in 2024 alone. One was Full Moon, an entrancing series of duets with Abhijit Banerjee, one of the world’s tabla greats. In this performance Shankar will share the stage with Selvaganesh Vinayakram & Swaminatha Selvaganesh presenting Carnatic music with the proper Carnatic percussion of kanjira and mridangam. This will feature the two generations of the band Shakti as well. Selvaganesh is the son of original Shakti member Vikku Vinayakram and, of course, L. Shankar was the original founder of Shakti (w/ John McLaughlin). 

L. Shankar (doublin violin/ vocals) w/ (tabla) (Carnatic Ragas) (90-100 min set)