L. Subramaniam

A gifted South Indian counterpart of Jean-luc Ponty on the electric violin, and endlessly curious about all kinds of music, Subramaniam has been a pioneer in exploring intelligent {fusions} between European {classical} music, American {jazz}, { ock}, and {South Indian music}. His father, a master Indian violinist, and mother, who played the Indian vina, were his first musical influences, and after abandoning a career in medicine, he formed a violin trio with his two brothers while still in India. He toured America and Europe with Ravi Shankar and ex-Beatle George Harrison in 1974, made his first {fusion} album in Copenhagen (Garland), and wrote material for Stu Goldberg and Larry Coryell in 1978. He settled in the Los Angeles area in the late '70s in order to earn a doctorate in Western music at the California Institute of the Arts, where he also taught {South Indian music}. He led a group with Coryell, George Duke, and Tom Scott in the 1980s, and recorded several fascinating LPs for Milestone -- including an LP with Stephane Grappelli -- that fused {classical} music, electric and acoustic {jazz}, and {South Indian music}. Subramaniam has also written works for {classical} orchestras; his Violin Concerto juxtaposes naïve Hollywood-ish romantic music with South Indian instruments and structures. His debut for the Erato Detour label, Global Fusion, followed in 1999. ~ Richard S. Ginell, Rovi