Sajjid Manuel has been playing the Piano and Keyboards since the age of 7. This was reinforced with a bit of grounding in Western Classical music and a wee bit of Carnatic music. He has performed for the Highland church Trivandrum, Kerala, in South India for a period of time. He had formed a trio called "The Mirage" and they performed at Kafe 2000 (Chennai, India) and Qwiky's Cafe, (Chennai, India).

He has performed with renowned musicians from India such as Dr. L. Subramaniam (Indian Violinist, Composer and Conductor) Chennai Live, Keith Peters (Bass Guitarist) Chennai Live, Paul Jacob (Bass Guitarist and Music Director) Qwiky's Café Chennai Live, Andy Park (Music Writer, USA) Chennai Live, Scott Underwood (Music Writer and Performer, USA) Chennai Live, who wrote the lyrics for the Grammy Award winning song for best lyrics, "Drops Of Jupiter", Cheyur Viji (Electric Guitars) Chennai Live, Chuck Eddy (Electric Guitars, USA) Chennai Live, Maynard Grant (Drummer) Chennai Live, and Julian Berte (Guitarist, France) at Whistle Stop Café Chennai Live.

He has also composed music for T.V commercials (Jingles) such as TVS Suzuki, Aptech Computers, Bitech Computers, Dialog and Bharat Overseas Bank. He formed the band "Blue On Ice" with a friend Joshua Palmer (Indian Guitarist, Performer, and Song Writer) who performed at the Taj Residency (Bangalore, India), Leela Palace Kempinski (Bangalore, India) for the opening of the boutique, Elizabeth Arden, Zara Tapas Pub (Chennai, India) and for the British Embassy on one occasion at the residence of the British Deputy Commissioner.

Film Experience

He turned professional with his first break playing for South Indian music director A.R. Rahman (Indian Composer, Record Producer and Musician) on his movie scores "Indian" and "Muthu". He also played for Koti, a Telugu Film Music Director. Sajjid Manuel has also played for Ilayaaraja (Indian Film Composer, Singer and Lyricist) for the movie "Mumbai Express" and has also worked with Yuvan Shankar Raja (Indian Film music director) Ilaiyaraaja's son, for the songs and re-recordings including "Sandakozhi" which ran for more than 150 days in the cinema theaters of Chennai.

The music for the animation before the title music and the composition for the title music of "Sandakozhi" have been arranged and sung by him. The other movies include, "Pattiyal", and "Azhagai Irukkirai Bayamai Irukkirathu". He has also played for Vidyasagar (Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam Indian Film music director) for the movie "Sivapadhigaaram".

And last but not the least on one occasion, when he asked Ilayaraaja if he could play for him, Ilaiyaraaja is quoted having said, "I have to change my style of music for you". Ilayaraaja having heard much of his musical capabilities even asked a friend earlier if Sajjid Manuel could teach him Jazz!

About The Album

He has been contemplating on a music album for many years and finally at the last quarter of the year 2006, his very first album 'Imagination' was created. He also formed his own record label company called 'Frost and Fable Records [P] LTD' with a vision of helping musicians who have lost hope in themselves as musicians in order to help them make a decent living.

He has put in his own funds to make all this become a reality, in spite of him going through so many hurdles and extreme hardships. Nothing was easy and all the odds were against him. But with God's help, his single-minded devotion and his faith in God enabled him to reach this point. He has written, arranged and sung all the songs in the album 'Imagination'. Although the genre is Pop and Pop / Rock, you can feel many styles of music all in one, in his album. He has used India's best musicians to record this album and is proud to say that it was an honor to have Grammy Award winner Adam Ayan from (Portland, Maine, USA) master his album. Adam Ayan's diverse list of credits includes projects for artists such as Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, Linkin Park, Faith Hill, Sarah McLachlan, Tim McGraw, Rush, Kelly Clarkson, A Perfect Circle, Carrie Underwood, Bob Marley and Incubus, to name a few.

Sajjid Manuel's album 'Imagination' was mastered at Gateway Studios (Portland, Maine, USA). Over 35 nominations for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards have been mastered at Gateway Mastering & DVD.