Biography

Sonny Khoeblal

Sonny Khoeblal

Pop, Soul and Jazz/ Indian fusion Keyboard artist Sonny Khoeblal has been performing and recording professionally for more than 30 years. He’s the composer of Suriname’s most played instrumental hit ‘Wings of Peace’ and a much sought after pop-jazz arranger and producer of radio and tv commercials.

His latest music album ‘Wings of Peace‘ is available online, as well as in CD stores of Suriname .

After being initialised at the age of 6 in the music of India, he took on formal European classical piano training in his teens, and further developed himself in contemporary American music styles. In his twenties he studied jazz and pop music at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in the USA.

A 15 year stint on a Cruise Ship of Majestic Cruise lines priviledged him to work with such notables as multi-platinum singer Maxine Nightingale, multi-platinum singer/composer David Pomeranz, Latin America’s top selling female recording artist Amanda Miguel; distinguished pop-jazz vocalist of Australia, Kate Ceberano; double #1 hit French-Caribbean singer Michele Henderson, Gayle Moran Corea, Edgar Winter, jazz icon Chick Corea , renown fusion composer and educator John Novello.

In Suriname , together with local toppers as Ivor Mitchell, Glenn Teixeira, Laurence Gudge, Jason Eduards, Greg Kranenburg, Jean Durham, Kenneth Chin A Sen, Robby Tjon en Fa,  South South West, Edson Faerber, Audrey Bakrude and Apoplectic, Henk Pahlad and Andy Cotino , ….Wilgo Telting, Said Muntslag, Heliante Redan, Powl Ameerali, Mariane Cornet, Clinton Kaersenhout, Robert Madari, Bassman Breinburg, Walther Muringen, Wilgo Baarn, Saveendra Bajnath etc…he performed in the two years behind us with upcoming and wellknown Dutch artists such as Karsu Donmez , Steve Mariat  , Lucky, Sherif Wagidhoussein, Mahinder Raghoe , Andro Biswane at well attended concerts where First Lady Liesbeth Venetiaan was also the honored guest. Prior to that also with Suriname’s Lady of Jazz Denise Jannah for the Ambassador of the United States of America . He was knighted in the year 2008 in the Honored Order of the Yellow Star by President Ronald Venetiaan of Surinam.

Performances varied from small concerts, business receptions to Gala concerts and theater productions such as Thea Doelwijt’s SPOKENDANS/ LAND TE KOOP.

Influences
Sonny Khoeblal’s music is primarily influenced by: Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Afro Cuba, Celine Dion, Yanni, Michel Camilo, Caldera, Santana, R.D. Burman, Kitaro, Ruben Blades, Brian Culbertson, Everette Harp, U2

Sonny writes a weekly music column for the Times of Suriname newspaper, is a member of the Supervisory Board on Music Copyrights in Suriname and co-producer of the annual SuriTalent Show by Pepsi Suriname.

He also teaches long term masterclasses in Audio engineering and Music arranging and producing, including piano playing.

He currently has his operating base in his homeland, the exotic country of Suriname (pronounced Surnam), a former Dutch nation  in South America.

FOR DUTCH FANS :

Sonny Khoeblal is ruim 30 jaar actief in de music-biz als jazz/fusion/pop/R&B/indiaas pianist-keyboardist op live podia en in opname studios. Hij is schrijver en producer van radio hits als ‘Wings of Peace’, ‘Craziest’ en ‘Life Force’ en is ook een veelgevraagde jingle en pop-jazz arrangeur.

Zijn muziek CD ‘Wings of Peace‘  is nu verkrijgbaar via deze website en tevens bij alle bekende CD winkels in Paramaribo.

Zijn ruime speelervaring deed hij op in meer dan twintig bands met ruim duizend optredens met internationale sterren als Maxine Nightingale, Karsu Donmez, Steve Mariat, Chick Corea, David Pomeranz, Michele Henderson en Kate Ceberano op wereld muziekpodia, waaronder het St Lucia Jazz, Curacao Jazz , Suriname Jazz, en het Rainforest Kunst Festival.

Reeds op 6 jarige leeftijd begin hij zijn muziekvorming in Suriname op de Volksmuziekschool, trainde onder Sukki Akkal, Eddy Vervuurt, Leo Ferrier en Ricardo Tjon A Kong. Zijn professie ook als arrangeur, componist en entertainer ontwikkelde hij verder aan het Berklee College of Music, in Boston (USA), naast zelfstudie en applicatie.

Sonny Khoeblal publiceert ook een wekelijkse educatieve rubriek in het dagblad ‘Times of Suriname’.Hij is co-producer van Pepsi’s Suritalent Show.  Ook doceert hij middels masterclasses in geluidstechniek en piano spelen. Hij is verder een grote dierenvriend, vis(sport) en luchtvaart liefhebber.

De musicus resideert momenteel in Paramaribo, Suriname.


Parbode

Op 25 januari 2009 verscheen tevens een profiel van Sonny Khoeblal in ParBode [Surinaams Opinieblad].
Het artikel werd geschreven door Armand Snijders.

Brief Biography——-
(
to read in Dutch,look below)
Photo taken on board cruise ship FreewindsNow residing in his homeland, the exotic tropical paradiseSuriname (pronounced Surnam), a former Dutch nation  in South America just north of Brazil, Sonny has been performing professionally for more than 20 years, with such notables as jazz greatChick Corea; Gayle Moran; Edgar Winter, ; multi-platinum singerMaxine Nightingale; multi-platinum singer/composerDavid Pomeranz, Latin America’s top selling female recording artist Amanda Miguel; # 1 pop-jazz vocalist of Australia, Kate Ceberano; Double #1 hit French-Caribbean singer Michele Henderson, world renown fusion composer and educator John Novello, etc. After being initialised at the age of 6 in the music of India, he took on formal European classical piano training in his teens, and further developed himself in contemporary American music styles. In his twenties he attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in the USA.  Influences: Chick Corea,Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Afro Cuba, Celine Dion, Yanni,Michel Camilo, Caldera, Santana, R.D. Burman, Kitaro, Ruben Blades, Brian CulbertsonEverette Harp,U2…..———————————————————————————–Full Biography , clickhere.For Dutch fans:Sonny Khoeblal, al langer dan 25 jaar actief in de music-biz, begon zijn muziekvorming in Suriname op de Volksmuziekschool , trainde onder Sukki Akkal, Eddy Vervuurt, Leo Ferrier en Ricardo Tjon A Kong, naast zelfstudie, applicatie en later aan het Berklee College of Music, in Boston (USA) en ontwikkelde zich tot beroepspianist, keyboardist, arrangeur, componist en entertainer.Hij is schrijver en producer van radio hits als ‘Wings of Peace’ , ‘Craziest’ en ‘Life Force’ en is ook een veelgevraagde jingle en pop-jazz arrangeur.Zijn ruime speelervaring in meer dan 20 bands , via minstens 1000 optredens met internationale sterren als Maxine Nightingale, Chick Corea, David Pomeranz, Michele Henderson en Kate Ceberano op wereld muziekpodia,  waaronder recentelijk het St Lucia Jazz, het Suriname Jazz, en Rainforest Kunst Festival, deelt hij o.a. middels een wekelijkse educatieve rubriek in Dagblad Suriname ( www.dbsuriname.com). Sonny is verder een grote dierenvriend, vis(sport) en luchtvaar liefhebber en treedt thans regelmatig op met zijn band 4Ever Freedom.

Zijn muziek CD ‘Wings of Peace’ is nu verkrijgbaar bij alle bekende CD winkels in Paramaribo, One Stop Shoppe in Clearwater en via dezewebsite.

FREEWINDS SHIP PHOTO

FREEWINDS Ship Information.