Kushal Talele

ushal Talele was born in Pune, India a city just outside of Mumbai. His first formal tuition in music was on the traditional Indian drum, the tabla, for which he recalls showing no real talent. Talele moved with his family to New Zealand at the age of 8, spending his formative years between Auckland and Hamilton. Talele showed a keen interest in music during high school, which led him to pick up several instruments. He quickly realized after hearing Charlie Parker that the saxophone would be the vehicle that would best allow him to express himself.

After high school, Kushal went on the study at the New Zealand School of Music in Auckland under the tutelage of Brian Smith and Pete France. In recent years, Kushal has been based in London, where he was playing original music with his electronic group, Mooga Fooga as well as working as a sideman with some of the city’s top jazz musicians.

Currently, Talele is based in NYC, completing a post graduate degree at Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Donny McCaslin, Phil Markowitz, Vincent Herring, Rogerio Boccato, and John Riley.