ABOUT
An award-winning ensemble from Melbourne, Australia SHAYAN seamlessly fuses contemporary jazz, classical and electronic music with the rich folkloric music of Iran.
SHAYAN was created and is led by saxophonist Omid Shayan. The music is a reflection of his experiences as an Iranian-Australian migrant, growing up in the suburbs of Melbourne and living with one foot in the Eastern world and the other in the West.
“… a massive, gigantic beast which moves swiftly and smoothly through the city, slowly but firmly; and as it goes, it devours all sorts of elements and sounds, from funk and jazz to classical to rock to Iranian traditional music.”
The group was formed in mid-2015 after Omid won first prize at the ‘Darebin Music Festival Composition Competition’ and is a free-floating ensemble, expanding and contracting to support Omid’s musical vision.
In 2020, the SHAYAN was awarded a Grant from Creative Victoria for the creation and performance of a new music with the electronic string duo "‘Melbourne Amplified Strings’.
““Deeply rooted in modern jazz, SHAYAN is a perfect platform for this talented band and gives us another exciting example of Australian Contemporary Jazz. It is also a wonderful live act.”
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In 2021, SHAYAN were one of 15 recipients of the 2021 ABC Jazz Composer Commission and composed a suite original music for a chord-less quintet, exploring the intersection between contemporary Jazz and Traditional Iranian rhythm and melody. The the seven-track album ‘The Heart is a Candle’ was recorded at ABC Studios as part of the commission in August 2022 and launched to a sell-out crowd at The Jazzlab in Melbourne in May 2023.