Merlin D'Souza
Merlin D'Souza | |
|---|---|
 Merlin DSouza at BlueFrog Mumbai, March 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Bombay, India |
| Genres | Western_Classical, Jazz, Bollywood, World music |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Years active | 1996-present |
| Website | Website |
Merlin D'Souza is a composer and pianist from Bombay. She is a consummate musician whose work includes composing for film, albums, theatre and advertising. She is based at Bandra, a Mumbai suburb. Formerly the Asian jazz ambassador for Hennessy X.O. - she has toured extensively, from Australia to China, from Europe to the United States (including a stint at the Blue Note, New York).
Biography
Merlin started learning the piano at age 6, became an All India Radio performing artiste at 9, started playing in the church at 12 and bunked college at 18 to score and perform for Noel Godin’s musical production (Blood Brothers). She is rigorously trained in western classical (Trinity College Performer’s Licentiate) and liberated by jazz.
Her journey in theatre as a music director has seen her score for Alyque Padamsee’s Romeo and Juliet, Pearl Padamsee’s Godspell, Naseeruddin_Shah’s Julius Ceaser and Etienne Coutinho’s Jazz.
Her foray into films as composer, arranger and vocal director has hit the right notes in Kabhi_Khushi_Kabhie_Gham..., Road, Bus Yun Hi, Rules:_Pyaar_Ka_Superhit_Formula, Prince of Egypt and more.
She has gigged with greats like Shubha Mudgal, Trilok Gurtu, Talvin Singh, Taufiq_Qureshi, Rakesh Chaurasia to name a handful.
Discography
- Soul Yatra (2009) - Charting a soundscape that fuses raga influenced melodic lines, Indian rhythm patterns, groovy arrangements and oodles of fluid piano work, Soul Yatra also features guest performances by the likes of Taufiq_Qureshi, Rakesh Chaurasia, Mukul Dongre, Karl Peters, Hamsika Iyer and Vivienne Pocha.
Filmography
- Kabhi_Khushi_Kabhie_Gham... - Merlin played, arranged and conducted for Karan Johar’s superhit film 'K3G'. The sound tracks included super hits ‘You are my soniya’, ‘Suraj hua Maddham’, ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Deewana hai dekho’.
- Road - With music director Sandesh Shandilya, Merlin arranged and programmed the musical score for ‘Makhmali Si Badhan’, the lively ‘Kya Yeh Pyaar hai’, and the item number ‘Khullam Khulla’.
- Bas Yun Hi - Merlin’s debut film as composer and music director. The film received critical acclaim as the new urban-centric yet soulful sound to hit the film industry. Directed by Raja Menon, the film saw stellar performances by Nandita Das and Purab Kohli.
- Prince of Egypt - Merlin was the vocal director for the animated feature film ‘Prince of Egypt’ (Hindi version). This Oscar winning animated film was produced by DreamWorks pictures.
- Lion King - Merlin was the music director, arranger and programmer for the Hindi version of Disney’s famous animated movie ‘Lion King’. The sound tracks of the animated movie were compiled into an album which boasted of several leading Indian singers and was produced by BMG Crescendo.
- Bombay Boys - Merlin and Asif Ali Beg teamed up to compose an OST for Kaizad Gustad’s film starring Rahul Bose, Naveen Andrews and Naseeruddin Shah.
- Other works where she has been vocal director, arranger and programmer - Agnivarsha, Piya Basanti, Socha na tha, Ganga Jal, Rules, Band of Boys, Tum Milo To Sahi