Surinder Sandhu has carved out an impressive career for himself, in an area where not many dare to venture. He started his musical journey as a child when he sweet talked his Grandmother to tell grandfather to give him his battered old clarinet from India. Soon moving onto saxophone, he became obsessed with great Jazz like Ellington, Parker, Gillespie. In his late teens, he decided to leave his family home in the UK to focus on the rare Indian bowed instrument Sarangi, described by Yehudi Menuhin as expressing ‘the very soul of Indian feeling and thought’. The Sarangi has very few practitioners due to its extremely difficult facilities. He also studied the music of his ancestors. He spent the next decade in Guru-Shishya-Parampara (guru-disciple-tradition). This disciplined intense period involved rigorous 14-hour day practice routines at the feet of his master. Touring internationally as a Sarangi player, he established himself and soon began a pursuit of his composition and producing side. 2003 saw the release of his internationally acclaimed debut album SauRang Orchestra, which featured guitar legend Steve Vai, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and some of India’s finest classical musicians. An instrumental album, SauRang gained huge momentum, picking up BBC specials on BBC Radio Two, Radio Three, World Service, Asian Network, Classic FM and others.

The combination of his inventive musical ideas matched by his technical expertise in recording and post production arena, make him a tour de force in this industry. His music has been used for TV, advertising, theatre, film, the subject of many PHD works, to test high end audio equipment & education. Grammy winning mighty rock stars to Superbowl marching bands, there simply are no restrictions. His symphonic works with The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (including composing and producing the theme for Liverpool City of Culture 2008), his rearranging of Beatles classics for the digitally re-mastered Yellow Submarine premiere.

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What the press are saying about Surinder Sandhu: 

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"Surinder Sandhu, composer, bandleader and virtuoso of the 1000 year old Indian bowed instrument the sarangi, is truly a musician without boundaries: weaving cultures, melting genres and distilling sounds so that all that is left is just 'music'.  The musicians who seem to flock to work with him are all masters in their own right; Surinder works by allowing others to breathe.  It’s almost as if he sits somewhere just in the background of the sonic landscape.  Ethereal and earthy in equal measures, global yet intimate, Sandhu is a musical alchemist for the 21st century."(WorldMusic.co.uk).

 

 

‘Breathtaking’, Sir Brian May from Queen
 

"This is music of the future! The leaders virtuosity draws the ear whenever he plays". BBC Music Magazine

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Some of the most amazing music I have ever heard! If the first album is anything to go by, tonight I'll be flying! Janice Long BBC Radio Two (SauRang Orchestra was also in Janices top 10 Desert Island Disc Albums

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Surinder Sandhu is an extraordianry musician. Steve Vai (multi Grammy winning and ex frank Zappa guitar legend).

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"I’m a little out of my depth here. I’ll just say this, absolutely perfect, powerful and majestic, ultimately this is a fulfilling work of beauty and i will be playing it for years to come’" Snowboy – Blues and Soul Magazine
 

"Groundbreaking...Stunning collage of Indian influenced jazz and symphonic power...This album puts Sandhu at the forefront of one of the most exciting jazz experiments now underway". Walter Kolosky - All About Jazz.com, Author

"Electrifying!...if a composer’s grasp isn’t beyond his reach what’s heaven for?". Andy Robson, Jazzwise Magazine

"Working with a musician such as Surinder Sandhu gives great insight into the workings of a genius mind". Dennis Rollins - Multi Award winning composer and trombonist for Maceo Parker, Prince and many others)

"A must listen! A fantastic CD bursting with all corners of creative music, a single CD that unites a nation through the power of his music".

Courtney Pine OBE

 

"There is an air of English eccentricity that envelopes these eclectic musical forays into a perfect soundtrack of life in Britain’s major cities today! life changing magical experiences…such is the quality of Surinder Sandhu!". Jean Paul 'Bluey' Maunick - Incognito (Producer of Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Mario Bondi).
 

"As unique as it is intriguing", Jon Mitchell – Songlines Magazine 2008

 

"The Fictionist is a CD of genuine intelligence with a rare breadth of vision". Keith Ames – Musician Magazine

 

Album of the month, 5 OUT OF 5! "Albums like this one have changed the perception of classical music and broadened audiences...a classical collection of songs dripping with cool moments of contemporary inventiveness".

Eastern Eye Magazine