Aditi regularly features with Merlin’s fusion band ‘Soul Yatra’ at various corporate events. She is a Kathak dancer who also specializes in Odissi and Marathi folk dances like Lavni, Jogva, etc. She has performed at the Kala Ghoda Festival, Celebrate Bandra Festival, Mumbai Festival and many more. The Doordarshan Kendra has given her the title of an A grade performer. Venturing into films, she has several Marathi films to her credit and has also performed a solo dance sequence for Madhur Bhandarkar’s film, ‘Traffic Signal’.
Vrajesh and Kalyani create an exciting jugalbandi by combining jazz with Indian classical dance. Vrajesh is an established jazz and fusion dancer who has trained from the Broadway Dance School in New York. Kalyani has rigorously trained in Indian classical dance from a very young age. She has several live shows to her credit.
Merlin along with Vrajesh and Kalyani perform ‘Border Crossing’ which involves the fusion of dance forms by combining Jazz with Bharat natyam & Kathak and the fusion of western music with Indian Raags such as the blending of Dave Brubeck’s
‘Take 5’ with
‘JhapTaal’
Merlin and Toby’s combination never fails to mesmerize audiences. Toby is a talented dancer and choreographer. He specializes in various western dance forms like Salsa and Jazz but is also tremendous when it comes to Bollywood. He is the winner of the hit dance reality television show ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’ (Season1) with Mona Singh. For the last 16 years, he has been teaching Salsa, Jazz and Contemporary Dance to his pupils.
Time and again, Merlin orchestrates graceful movement by seamlessly bringing music and dance together. On several occasions, she has performed live with the highly gifted Lasya dancers. These dancers fuse Kathak and Bharatnatyam to create an alluring and appealing classical dance form. Renowned classical dancer, Rajashree Shirke, choreographs the Lasya dancers.
Biju has been dancing for the last 14 years. He has performed at several shows with Merlin and has added movement to her beat. He is a contemporary Jazz and Latin dancer, choreographer and illusionist.
Mukul brings Indian tastes on the western drums. He has journeyed with Merlin's Soul Yatra for the Hennessy X.O. Jazz Tour across South East Asia. He is also India's brand ambassador for Premier Drums. Classically trained on tabla, his interpretation on percussion and drums is truly global and world fusion.
Satyajit, a masterful tabla artist has accompanied Merlin on several occasions and continues to do so. Son of renowned tabla guru Pt. Suresh Talwalkar, he has accompanied Ustads and Pandits the world over. Satyajit has received critical acclaim for his mastery and collaboration with western drum ensembles.
Vijay Prakash is a playback singer from Mysore who has also been trained in carnatic music. He has lent his smooth and skillful vocals to many films, advertisements and has collaborated with Merlin on the Soul Yatra project. He is a successful playback singer and has to his credit films like 'Slumdog Millionaire', 'Yuvvraaj', 'Swades', 'Lakshya', etc. He has also recorded for 25 foreign films including a Chinese film with music by Surender Sodhi.
Rakesh Chaurasia is a leading bansuri / flute player who is the nephew of flute maestro, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. He has regularly appeared in major festivals like 'Festivals of India' in Russia, 'Leicester International Music Festival' in England, 'Ashirwadh Sangeet Samaroh' in Varanasi and many more. He has recently collaborated with Merlin on her latest album release 'SoulYatra'.
Rhys Sebastian is known as India's teen-sensation and whiz-kid on the Saxophone. He has to his credit, the singing voice of ‘Miriam’ for the DreamWorks animated film, ‘Prince of Egypt’ (Hindi) and ‘Mowgli’ for Walt Disney’s ‘Jungle Book’ (Hindi). He recently performed at Ronnie Scott’s (London). He has lent his skills to films, advertisements and albums. He has collaborated and performed with the likes of Merlin, Pt. Ravi Chari, Fazaal Qureshi, Louis Banks, Rakesh Chaurasia. He has performed all over India and in the U.K., Maldives, etc.
His recent success was the hit play ‘Jazz’ which received a standing ovation at the Amsterdam Theatre Festival. In March ’09, he walked the ramp and performed for Troy Costa fashions and Neeta Lulla Collections at Lakme Fashion Week.
Sheldon D'Silva, is an extremely gifted bassist having to his credit, a live performance at the Gateway of India alongside multi-Grammy winning vocalist Al Jarreau, George Duke, Earl Klugh and Ravi Coltrane. Sheldon also has had the honour of playing with the tabla great, Trilok Gurtu.
He has toured extensively with Merlin’s ‘Soul Yatra’ and several other leading musicians of the country. Sheldon is definitely one of the most sought after bass guitarists in the country.
Ashley Quiney is the lead guitarist of Merlin's Soul Yatra. He is a versatile guitarist and can play Rock, Jazz, Classical, Pop and Latin styles. In his over 30 year career, he has performed with some of the top musicians of the country and has recorded several advertising jingles and albums for many artists. He continues to divulge his knowledge by training his aspiring pupils.
Vivienne has been Merlin’s partner on numerous projects. With Merlin’s soulful tunes and Vivienne’s powerful voice, the duo have mesmerized listeners for years. Vivienne continues to be an integral part of Merlin’s music projects. Her soulful, stirring and soaring voice has been a part of films, theatre, advertising and albums.
She has performed and traveled with Soul Yatra, Trilok Gurtu, Chicago Jazz Express and has been the lead singer/actress in musicals like ‘Blood Brothers’, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘The Wiz’ and ‘Sound of Music’.
Bianca is a versatile singer and is most sought after as a blues, jazz & retro singer. She has widely traveled the country and abroad with Merlin and Soul Yatra. One of her highlights was being the voice of Soul Yatra for Hennessey X.O. jazz tour in South East Asia. She also sung at Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Unforgettable’ tour in US and U.K.
Her work includes films such as Dev D and advertising jingles for brands like Toyota Qualis, Tanishq, Mahindra Xylo, etc.
Asif and Merlin’s hit album ‘Mantra-Jantar Mantar’ was a highly successful BMG release. Together they compose and produce music for corporates. Asif has lent his vocal skills to animation films, Bollywood films and live performances. He is a renowned lyricist, actor, composer and voice over artist. Some of his works include ‘Dhoom’, Rakesh Roshan’s ‘Kites’, Alyque Padamsee’s ‘Othello’, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘The Incredibles’, etc.
Shazneen is a classic Pop and Rock singer and a voice-over artist. She is the vocalist for ‘Merlin and Soul Yatra’. Shazneen sings almost all genres of music ranging from Pop, Rock to Jazz and Blues to Hindi-pop and Bhangra.
Shazneen has performed with Soul Yatra at several events including the Sun Feast Open, Abby Awards and numerous launches. She also performed with Amitabh Bachchan on his Live International Tour, ‘Unforgettable’
Anirudh Shirke is a young and talented tabla player and regularly performs with Merlin’s Soul Yatra. Other than being a fine percussionist, he is also the music director for LASYA dance academy, where he directs and performs in musical ensembles for fusion, folk, classical, jazz, retro genres of dance and music. He is known for getting the audience grooving to his jugalbandis and is also very sought after for his recording skills as a composer.
