India’s Jazz community will know music composer and keyboardist Deonshah Sanjana as a person behind Fusion Group Divya, who made headlines with the album in 1987 Madras cafeAnd received praise for follow -up Kumummela A decade later. After moving from Mumbai to Los Angeles in 1999, he continued with music production and instrument retail, but his dream was to make tunes close to his heart.
Thus Deenshah is tied with drummer Matthew Baker to release the Jazz-fusion album. 369 HzFreakquency under the name. With 12 tracks, it is excluded by the moment music, which he and Baker launched 12 years ago. Line-up is a mixture of musician-friends who made them during their stay in the US and the artists met online. Indian musicians include Sarod players Prashek Borker and Roshan Mandayam, who appear on ‘Nayan’, and Hari Kumar Shivan, who play on the title track.
“These two pieces are an indication for my past, but on others, I have used music from different parts of the world. I wanted to use my friend Shekhar Borker on Sarod, but his son Prashekha, who is now located in Perth, Australia, is more used for digital method,” says Deonshah. ‘Nayan’ has elements of Raga Sindhu Bhairavi on Sarod and Violin, it also features Afro-Kuban American Veena player Radha Botofasina. The title track uses Carnatic Raga Vasant Bhairavi. Explaining the name of the album, the composer says, “Number three, six and nine are considered holy – they represent creation, development and perfection or knowledge. Since we call ourselves also freak, title, title 369 Hz Was completely gone with our voice. ,
Dirsshah started writing songs in 2019, but things stalled due to epidemic. He faced some health issues, and after recovering, landed in the album. He says, “I have written all the compositions and Matthews, rhythm. We have known each other for 20 years. During the lockdown, we virtually interacted with many musicians. These were fabulous Russian Bassist Anton Davidants, who easily agreed to play on some tracks.
First virtual cooperation
This was the first time that Din Shah actually worked. He explains, “I am used for musicians sitting with me in the studio, discussing and instead of going back and forth through files, but one will have to change over time.”
Dirsshah has been involved with music since the early 1980s. Apart from Divya, he was associated with Band Ji Whiz, Holi Smoke and Ultimatum. His priority was always Jazz and Fusion. Divya was formed by Deenshah and Sandhya Sanjana with a view to fusing Jazz with Indian elements. He recorded his first album Madras cafe It was released in 1986 and next year. It was recognized for the balance of sounds and technical wizards. Apart from Dinshah, it on the guitar with Roy Venkatraman on the guitar, CP Sriram on Violin, Sharnol Mathias on Bass, Fazal Qureshi on Tabla, Bondo Fernandes and Mridana and Mridana and Shankar with Sandhya Sunjan with vocal inputs. The album is now available on streaming platforms through Sony Music.
Deeenshah will soon release Jazz-fusion albums 369 HzFreakquency under the name. , Photo Credit: Malik Daniel
Along with Jazz India, an organization promoting local artists, Divya got a chance to perform at John Colater Jazz Festival at Los Angeles, when Ellis Cooltron, wife of Great Sachsophoneist, saw her playing in Poland. In addition to the US and Europe, he visited Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and the erstwhile Soviet Union. “Neeranjan Jhaveri of Jazz India helped us get a lot of shows abroad. We were good for the music made by us in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but by the end of the decade, Bollywood and some Indipops were only one items that were being pushed,” they say.
Divya’s line-ups live separately, and new entry included Mridangam player Viveik Rajagopalan and drummer Sanjay Maru. In 1998, the line-up featured Deemanshah, Sandhya Sanjana, guitarist Paresh Kamath, Basist Naresh Kamath, American Saxophoneist Carl Clements, Kanjira player Selva Ganesh and drummer Kurt Peters. Deenshah and Sandhya also recorded a soundtrack album for the UK channel 4 series Ramayana: A visit,
Deenshah’s latest project frequency has clearly given him a new level. He is also happy with the quality of independent music coming to India these days. He says, “This can be a good time to cooperate with some young musicians. I am also thinking about releasing Kumummela Digitally. ,
Dirsshah started the band, Divya, with a view to fusing Jazz with Indian elements. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Published – August 18, 2025 03:49 pm IST
