Umashankar is the son of percussion maestro Vikku Vinayakram. Umashankar is the only one among his siblings to follow in his distinguished father’s footsteps by playing ghatam as his main instrument.
He gave performances at the age of five at his grandfather’s school.
When he was only 12 years old, Umashankar accompanied the celebrated T. V. Gopalakrishnan in Kanchipuram, which led to his role as a popular accompanist in classical Carnatic music.
He has performed with T. M. Krishna, Vijay Siva, Sanjay Subramaniam, Unni Krishnan, Ganesh Kumaresh, Nithyashree Mahadevan, the Priya Sisters, and Sudha Raghunathan.
Discography:
Icon: A Transcontinental Gathering, with Jonas Hellborg (Bardo Records, 2003)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.