Born: April 22 Primary Instrument: Drums
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.”
