Nitin Sawhney

Nitin Sawhney
Nitin Sawhney in Lisbon, 24 February 2009
Background information
Born	1964 (age 52–53) London, England
Origin	Rochester, Kent, England
Genres	Electronica, nu jazz, drum and bass, trip hop, downtempo, R&B
Occupation(s)	Producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, dj, orchestral composer
Website	NitinSawhney.com

Nitin Sawhney (born 1964) is a British Indian musician, producer and composer. His work combines Asian and other worldwide influences with elements of jazz and electronica and often explores themes such as multiculturalism, politics, and spirituality. Sawhney is also active in the promotion of arts and cultural matters, and is a patron of numerous film festivals, venues, and educational institutions.

Nitin Sawhney was raised in Rochester, Kent, England, by Punjabi immigrant parents. As a child he studied piano, classical and flamenco guitar, sitar and tabla.

Subsequently, he studied law at Liverpool University for a short time.

It was during this period that Sawhney met up with a school friend, acid-jazz keyboard-player James Taylor. Sawhney then toured as part of The James Taylor Quartet. This experience led to him forming his own band, The Jazztones. He also joined forces with tabla player and DJ/producer Talvin Singh to form the Tihai Trio.

After dropping out of university, Sawhney trained as an accountant until leaving his job as a financial controller of a hotel to pursue his promising career in music. Sawhney moved to London, where he met up with old university friend Sanjeev Bhaskar; together they created the comedy team The Secret Asians. The pair were given a show on BBC Radio, which eventually grew into the award-winning BBC TV sketch show Goodness Gracious Me. Refocusing on music, Sawhney's solo career began in 1993, when he released his debut album, Spirit Dance on his own label.

Sawhney has scored for and performed with orchestras, and collaborated with and written for the likes of Paul McCartney, Sting, The London Symphony Orchestra, A.R. Rahman, Brian Eno, Sinead O’Connor, Jacob Golden, Anoushka Shankar, Jeff Beck, Shakira, Will Young, Joss Stone, Taio Cruz, Ellie Goulding, Horace Andy, Cirque Du Soleil, Akram Khan, Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair, Nelson Mandela and John Hurt. Performing extensively around the world, he has achieved an international reputation across every possible creative medium.