Sandhya Sanjana ( hi, संध्या) is a singer from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, India. She is one of the first Indian singers to have experimented with combining

Indian classical Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

vocals with contemporary western styles. Her career began at a young age and she has appeared on over 30 albums of various genres.

Life

Journey into fusion

She sang with rock bands in Bombay, New Delhi, and

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. When she met Dinshah Sanjana, he had studied classical piano and was entering the world of

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ove ...

by studying the flute. He switched to

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

to accompany her. They went on to form their fusion group Divya.

Embarking on a solo career

In 1998, Sandhya and Dinshah separated. In 1999, she married a Dutch man, moved to the Netherlands, and embarked on her solo career. She recorded her Nava Rasa suite with Heiko Dijker on tabla and Matthieu Safatly on prepared cello. She toured the Netherlands and Germany with this trio, while sometimes adding a dancer to the group. In London, she performed her Nava Rasa song cycle with Renga of the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

at St. James's Church in Piccadilly and at the Southbank Centre. Alice Coltrane invited her to do a solo performance at the John Coltrane festival for a fund raising concert. She is a member of

Ramesh Shotham Ramesh Shotham (born May 7, 1948 in Madras, Tamil Nadu, India) is a percussionist and drummer. Life Ramesh Shotham was born in Madras, South India. He graduated with a degree in zoology from Loyola College, University of Madras. He began his musi ...

's Madras Special, a band that combines South Indian music and jazz. With this band, she performed in Morocco, Taiwan, Romania, Hungary, London, Germany and the Netherlands. She appeared on their albums ''Madras Special'' and ''Urban Folklore''. She has been a featured member of Omri Hason's Kadim and toured Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Germany with this band. She appeared on two albums with Kadim – the eponymous debut album and ''Shati''. She was one of the musicians on mp3.com who made web collaborations. During this period, she met

Rom di Prisco Rom Di Prisco (sometimes known as Morphadron) is a Canadian composer and producer. He has provided music for over 30 video games, including ''Guacamelee!'', '' Unreal Tournament 3'', ''SSX Tricky'', '' Spy Hunter 2'', ''NHL'' series, '' Need for ...

who writes soundtracks for video games. He used Sanjana's voice on ''

Unreal Tournament 3 ''Unreal Tournament 3'' (''UT3'') is a first-person shooter, first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Midway Games. Part of the Unreal (video game series), ''Unreal'' franchise, it is the fourth game in the ...

''. She has worked with Zoltan Lantos

Discography

As vocalist/member

* Divya: ''Madras Cafe'' (CBS, 1987) * Divya: ''Kumbhamela'' (Earth Beat, 1998) * Dinshah & Sandhya Sanjana: ''Ramayana - a Journey'' (Channel Four Television, 1997) * ''Madras Special'' (Permission Music, 2002) * Madras Special: ''Urban Folklore'' ( Double Moon, 2006) * Omri Hason: ''Kadim'' (Permission, 2003) * Omri Hason: ''Shati'' (Double Moon, 2008) * Prem Joshua: ''Shiva Moon'' (Music Today, 2003) * Prem Joshua: ''Yatri'' (White Swan, 2006) * Prem Joshua: ''Taranga'' (White Swan, 2006) * Praful: ''Pyramic in your Backyard'' (Therapy Recordings, 2006) * Praful: ''Remixed + 2'' (Therapy, 2006) * Chris Hinze Combination: ''Back on the Map'' ( Keytone, 2004) * Masaladosa: ''Electro World Curry'' (Masalasound, 2008) * Sandhya Sanjana: ''Random Access Melody'' (Loplop, 2009)

As guest

Alice Coltrane Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few har ...

: ''Glorious Chants'' (Avatar Book Institute, 1995) * Mynta: ''Indian Times'' (Intuition, 1997) *

Susheela Raman Susheela Raman (born 21 July 1973) is a British musician. She was nominated for the 2006 BBC World Music Awards. Her debut album '' Salt Rain'' was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2001. She is known for energetic, vibrant, syncretic, and u ...

: ''Salt Rain'' (

Narada Narada ( sa, नारद, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage divinity, famous in Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of mind-created children of Brahma, the creator god. He ...

, 2001) * Susheela Raman: ''Love Trap'' (Narada, 2003) * Indofunk: ''The Basement Sessions'' (Saraswati, 2002) * Bahramji & Maneesh De Moor: ''Call of the Mystic'' (Blue Flame, 2005) * Maneesh de Moor: ''Sadhana'' (Sounds True, 2006) * ''

The Soundtrack'' (

Sumthing Else Sumthing Distribution was an American based company started by Nile Rodgers that distributes recording artist and independent record labels. It was the largest African-American owned distribution company in America. It was announced on January 3, ...

MusicWorks, 2007) *

Michel Banabila Michel Banabila (born 14 April 1961 in Amsterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch composer and sound artist. Banabila performed live in 2013 in the auditorium of the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, at the opening of the exhibition of Crops, an audiovisua ...

: ''Traces'' (Tapu, 2007) * Michel Banabila: ''Precious Images'' (Steamin' Soundworks, 2008)

Newspaper articles in the de Volkskrant

Zoltan Lantos laat nieuwe snaren resoneren (Dutch)Zoltan Lantos allows new strings to resonate (English)

Wereldmuziek (Dutch)World (English)

Dialoog tussen piano en oeroude kleipot (Dutch)Dialogue between piano and ancient clay pot (English)

Indiase klassieke muziek met een bluesy groove (Dutch)Indian classical music with a bluesy groove(English)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanjana, Sandhya Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers English-language singers from India Hindi-language singers Indian women jazz singers Indian jazz singers Singers from Mumbai Women musicians from Maharashtra