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Sunny Jain

Recognized internationally as a musician with a distinct and recognizable sound, drummer Sunny Jain has performed with such artists as Kiran Aluwhalia, Seamus Blake, Kyle Eastwood, Kermit Driscoll, Norah Jones, Lonnie Plaxico, Kenny Wollesen, and has appeared throughout the States, Canada, Europe, Japan, India and West Africa at such notable venues as, Blue Note (NYC, Japan), Atlanta Jazz Festival (GA), Ravinia Jazz Festival (IL), Top of the Senator (Canada), Cork Guinness Jazz Festival (Ireland), Vitoria Jazz Festival (Spain), Pescara International Festival of Jazz (Italy), Pizza Express (England), Marian's Jazz Room (Switzerland), Jazz Yatra Festival (India) and the Musical Society of Nigeria (Nigeria).

Carrying a tremendous list of credits as a sideman, Sunny Jain is now pushing full steam ahead with his own musical mission.

After independently producing his first CD as a leader in late 2002, his group, Sunny Jain Collective gained the attention of critics and audiences around the world with his unique blend of jazz, Indian music and modern effects. Pulling together the jazz community, Indian community and people of all ages, this band has already given crowd-cheering performances in India, New York City's Blue Note and Joe's Pub and the Atlanta Jazz Festival. All the noise did not go unnoticed, as the newly formed record label, ZoHo Music, picked up Sunny Jain Collective's CD. Re-mastered and re-titled, SUNNY JAIN COLLECTIVE - MANGO FESTIVAL is now available in stores across the U.S., Canada and some European countries, as well as the Internet. Mango Festival establishes Jain as a leader with a unique sounding band, as he joins the ZoHo artist roster with such luminaries as Dave Liebman, Vic Juris and Arturo O' Farrill. Rounding out SJC and giving astounding performances are guitarist/sitar guitarist Rez Abbasi, acoustic bassist Gary Wang, and saxophonist Steve Welsh. "Our music combines the various influences and experiences that we in the band have been affected by. There's a little bit of everything in the music for everyone: jazz, Indian music, ambient sounds, and beats to dance to. Hopefully, we do our job and evoke some type of emotion or spirit in you."

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429
Album Review

Sunny Jain: Taboo

Read "Taboo" reviewed by Mark F. Turner


The sentences “Some things shouldn't be discussed in public" or “Don't ask, don't tell," are archaic phrases that still persist when speaking about forbidden subjects. South Asian drummer/composer Sunny Jain addresses some of these forbidden topics in Taboo, a scintillating project where he artfully uses his music as a platform to address social issues such as “sexual orientation, inequality and violence upon women, and the juxtaposition of religions." While such topics may continue to be controversial, this release is equally ...

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Album Review

Red Baraat: Chaal Baby

Read "Chaal Baby" reviewed by Elliott Simon


Percussionist Sunny Jain has already impressed as a musician who weaves disparate musical worlds into new universes. Chaal Baby, from his Red Baraat band, produces incredibly infectious celebratory dance music using Punjabi bhangra rhythms, funk and Jain's skills on the dhol, a double-sided North Indian drum. The result is a brassy percussive party that doesn't stop rocking until the final cut is over. The brass band milieu has given rise to various ethnic/jazz combinations that lean heavily ...

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Album Review

Sunny Jain Collective: Avaaz

Read "Avaaz" reviewed by Budd Kopman


The Sunny Jain Collective is part of a growing group of musicians whose roots are from South Asia (primarily India, but also countries like Cambodia and Thailand) and are naturally cross-fertilizing with other practitioners. Artists like Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa are developing a new kind of Indo-jazz fusion. The leaders of this movement are usually first-generation Americans with strong ties to the music of their parents' homeland. Rather than feeling trapped, cut off or shortchanged, and ...

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Radio

The Jazz Session #175: Sunny Jain

The Jazz Session #175: Sunny Jain

Source: Michael Ricci


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Performance / Tour

Sunny Jain CD Release Celebration/Concert for Taboo June 10th @ Joe's Pub

Sunny Jain CD Release Celebration/Concert for Taboo June 10th @ Joe's Pub

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity

"It only takes one initial listen to discern that Jain has masterminded a gala that is divergent, unique and irrefutably compelling. Hence, an album that stands alone within the continual influx of genre-crossing jazz projects. A top pick for 2010, indeed." - Glenn Astarita

“this release is equally thought provoking, riveting, and engaging." - Mark F. Turner, All About Jazz“Powering it all with shifting tempos, a vast array of percussive colors and rhythmic aplomb is bandleader Jain, bringing ...

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Recording

Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records to Release Taboo, from Sunny Jain

Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records to Release Taboo, from Sunny Jain

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity

“Powering it all with shifting tempos, a vast array of percussive colors and rhythmic aplomb is bandleader Jain, bringing worlds together in seamless fashion...a fresh concept with brilliant execution." - Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes “Jain intrepidly leads his band into a lush, undiscovered sonic territory that glistens with the exoticism of newness without falling into world-beat fusionist cliches." - New York Press BROOKLYN JAZZ UNDERGROUND RECORDS To Release TABOO, From SUNNY JAIN (Available now at ...

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Event

Indo Jazz: Sunny Jain Collective - CD Release Party

Indo Jazz:  Sunny Jain Collective - CD Release Party

Source: All About Jazz

SUNNY JAIN COLLECTIVE AT JOE'S PUB, NYC CD RELEASE PARTY - AVAAZ (SINJ RECORDS)

New York City-based drummer/composer Sunny Jain is a leading voice for the new music of Indo Jazz. His group, Sunny Jain Collective, intertwines jazz with music from his South Asian heritage, and all with a twist of modern effects.

The group's second CD, Avaaz (Sinj Records), is a truly innovative step in the new music of Indo Jazz. Avaaz features a stunning array of ...

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Recording

Debut CD from Sunny Jain Collective

Debut CD from Sunny Jain Collective

Source: All About Jazz

For a drummer as accomplished and inquisitive as Sunny Jain, music is something more than the sum of its parts, and his group's music extends far beyond the restrictive borders of labeled genres. AS IS, the debut album by the Sunny Jain Collective for NCM East Records, is a joyous celebration and synthesis of the musical cultures from the East and West.

On AS IS, Jain weaves the multi-cultural threads of Indian and American cultures into a colorful musical tapestry, ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Red Baraat Sound The...

Rhyme Or Reason Records
2018

buy

Chaal Baby

Sinj Records
2010

buy

Taboo

Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records
2010

buy

Avaaz

Sinj Records
2006

buy

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