Sachal Vasandani
All tickets are General Admission. This does NOT guarantee seating.
ABOUT SACHAL
“This man is really amazing!” With a “golden voice” and an ability to execute complex ideas with subtlety and nuance, “amazing” echoes the general reaction to Sachal Vasandani, a major new talent on the music scene.
“Sachal Vasandani’s singing reveals emotion and intellect,” says Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. “Versed in the blues, standards, and modern jazz… his sound is consistent and unique.” The New York Times has called him “debonair” and Jazz at Lincoln Center has described him as “Red-hot… the finest young talent on the scene”. All About Jazz has written, “Exceptional… a risk taker who tells a song’s story with subtlety. A superior scat singer to boot.”
With a flair for infusing the familiar with a fresh, original sensibility entirely his own and an ability to write songs of a diverse and popular style, Vasandani has captured the attention of the jazz world and is quickly climbing towards the top of the music scene. “I like to set a mood when singing,” says Vasandani, “communication, honesty and the freedom to explore are very important to me.” Vasandani’s youthful energy and appeal is ultimately attractive to audiences of all ages and musical preferences.
Born in Chicago, Vasandani’s parents had a deep interest in all kinds of music and he grew up listening to everything from Western and Indian classical music to Michael Jackson and the Beatles. His parents’ jazz records – from Duke Ellington to Keith Jarrett – began his initial interest in jazz. It was in high school that Vasandani made a commitment to the music: active in jazz band, choir and other ensembles, Sachal’s appreciation of the music deepened through constant study of jazz records. Vasandani left for college at the age of 18 to attend the University of Michigan. There he earned bachelor’s degrees in jazz, classical music and economics and was the International Association of Schools of Jazz’s official representative in 1998.
After being named Collegiate Jazz Vocalist of the Year by Downbeat Magazine in 1999, Vasandani moved to New York and, after a year of working on Wall Street, quit his job to begin his career as a singer. In 2001 he formed his own group, VASANDANI, a four-member ensemble that includes piano, bass and drums. Alongside luminaries such as Wynton Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Eric Reed, T.S. Monk, Etta Jones, Tom Harrell, Regina Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Benny Green, Peter Bernstein, Eric Lewis, Wess Anderson and Jeremy Pelt, they have – both collectively and individually – performed at many of the major venues in America and abroad. Mentors and fans include Sheila Jordan, Tierney Sutton, Mark Murphy, Peter Eldridge and Nancy Marano.
In September 2004, Vasandani was a semi-finalist in the 2004 Thelonious Monk Institute Competition and immediately thereafter embarked on his second tour of Europe, being touted as having “One of the best male voices in the world.” During 2005, he returned to Europe, and added Russia and Eastern Europe to his itinerary.
