Sachal Vasandani

Emerging from Chicago, vocalist and songwriter Sachal Vasandani, who records as Sachal, possesses a warm, understated delivery that shapes his distinctive fusion of original contemporary jazz and pop. Shaped by the nuanced phrasing of Shirley Horn and Betty Carter, his first three albums—Eyes Wide Open in 2007, We Move in 2009, and Hi-Fly in 2011—emphasized jazz standards and occasionally featured vocalese. With Slow Motion Miracles in 2015 he adopted a more atmospheric modern-pop approach still colored by jazz, reflecting the influence of Paul Simon, Sting, Seu Jorge, and Frank Ocean. After reflective projects with pianist Romain Collin that included Still Life in 2022, Sachal issued Best Life Now in 2025.

Raised in Chicago, Vasandani absorbed his parents’ modern-jazz collection, pop recordings by the Beatles and Michael Jackson, and the East Indian music of his ancestry. At the University of Michigan he majored in economics while participating in the school’s jazz and classical programs. He received a Collegiate Vocal award in the 1999 DownBeat Student Jazz Awards and reached the semifinals of the 2005 Thelonious Monk Institute Competition.

After moving to New York City to work as a Wall Street investment banker, Vasandani found the pull of music irresistible. He proved capable of sustaining a career as a jazz vocalist, performing in local clubs. Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra invited him to front a big band, and he appeared as a sideman with Pyeng Threadgill and Sean Jones. Following two independent releases, his Mack Avenue debut, Eyes Wide Open, arrived in 2007; the album surveyed his earlier experiences and cast him as a pop-jazz crooner incorporating rock, R&B, classical, and Brazilian elements.

He remained with Mack Avenue for We Move in 2009 and Hi-Fly in 2011. Both sets mixed standards with originals, yet the latter compositions revealed a gradual shift away from straight-ahead swing toward a more contemporary, still nuanced pop language.

In 2015, now recording simply as Sachal, he completed the transition by moving to Okeh Records for Slow Motion Miracles, his first collection of entirely original material and a showcase for his singular blend of jazz- and electronica-tinged singer-songwriter pop. He joined pianist Romain Collin for the 2021 album Midnight Shelter and the 2022 release Still Life.

Sachal resumed solo work with Best Life Now in 2025, recorded with drummer and producer Nate Smith and featuring keyboardist Jon Cowherd, guitarist Charles Altura, bassist Brian Cockerham, and saxophonist Dayna Stephens. The romantic, adult-contemporary single “Tyrannosaur” appeared on the album after its 2024 release.