Vikku, Zakir and Co.

Featuring Vikku and Zakir . Shakti . T.H. Vikku Vinayakram . Gattam Solo . John McLaughlin . Finding The Way . Vikku . Zakir Hussain . Masters of Percussion . Ghatam Karthick . Prakash Sontakke . Vikku Vinayakram . India

Carnatic Corner : The ghatam, a very ancient percussion instrument of South India, is a mud pot with a narrow mouth. From this narrow mouth, it shapes itself outwards to form a ridge. Primarily made of clay fired with brass or copper filings with some small amount of iron filings, the ghatam’s size varies according to pitch.

AVAXhome : Shakti was the band John McLaughlin assembled upon closing up shop with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Whereas the Orchestra was an eclectic, cosmopolitan force capable of high decibels of electric magnitude, with Shakti McLaughlin sought something more musically intimate and acoustic. And he found it by teaming up with three Indian virtuosi with whom he locked musically and psychically in a truly frightening manner over the course of three releases

Wikipedia : Born to Kalaimani T. R. Harihara Sharma, a talented musician and superlative teacher, “Vikku” took up playing at a very young age.He was a child prodigy, with his concert career beginning at the age of 13. He established his right to be on the stage by playing with such dexterity that he was soon accompanying many famous vocalists in Carnatic music at the time

Amazon : John did what any genius would do: he mastered the classical Indian style. Along with virtuoso tabla player Zakir Hussain, gifted L. Shankar, and master ghatam player T.H. Vinyakaram, John gave life to a style of music that had basked in virtuosity and intensity secretly for centuries.

Moment! Records : A child prodigy, Zakir was touring by the age of twelve, the gifted son of his great father, tabla legend Ustad Alla Rakha. Zakir came to the United States in 1970, embarking on an international career which includes no fewer than 150 concert dates a year.

N. Scott Robinson : Vikku prefers the Maana Madurai ghatam. He has a school in the Triplicane area of Chennai in South India called Sri Jaya Ganesha Thala Vadya Vidyalaya Percussion School.

Hinduism Today : Yet Shankar humbly wonders if he has a talent. “I just work hard,” he says. “I am a servant of music. My life is for music. I believe in reincarnation. I know we have lived many lives. I believe that I have been a musician in previous lives, and in fact, I really believe that I have played with Zakir.”

Drummerworld : In April, 1991, he was presented with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by the President of India, making him one of the youngest musicians to receive this recognition from India’s governing cultural institute.