Thursday, October 14, 2010

From the resounding hall of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo....

From the resounding hall of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, to the intimate setting of Smalls Jazz Club in New York City, to the massive applause on festival stages in India, Sunny Jain is a highly respected drummer, composer and educator.  Born to Punjabi immigrant parents and raised in Rochester, New York Sunny has become an Indian-American musical trailblazer.
Sunny leads Red Baraat, a one-of-kind dhol 'n' brass band melding the infectious North Indian rhythm Bhangra with funk, soca, and dramatic improvisatory conducting.  His Sunny Jain Collective has been touted as a leading voice for the new music Indo Jazz (a movement of first-generation South Asians equally steeped in the jazz tradition and the music of their cultural heritage) and his latest release, Taboo, furthers the movement.
Sunny was profiled in Downbeat Magazine (November 2009) for his unique blending of Indian music with jazz/world, and Red Baraat was featured in National Geographic, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Relix, Songlines and multiple other publications in 2009-10. In 2008, Sunny was commissioned by the Aaron Copland Fund to record Taboo, after being commissioned in 2006 by Chamber Music America to compose the new works.
The CD was released in June 2010 on the Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records Label.  He closed out 2007 with a milestone performance with the famed Sufi-rock group Junoon at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway, playing for Al Gore. In 2006, Traps magazine highlighted Sunny as a top New York City world jazz drummers, following on the heels of a feature in Jazz Hot magazine (France), in which he was noted as a rising star for his fusion of jazz and Indian music.  Sunny received the Arts International Award in both 2003 and 2005  and in 2002, he was designated a Jazz Ambassador by the U.S. Department of State and The Kennedy Center.
Sunny plays the indigenous drum of Punjab, dhol,  and made his professional debut as dholi playing in the first ever Indian Broadway show, Bombay Dreams (2004).  He has since gone on to perform with Masala Bhangra fitness guru, Sarina Jain (“The Indian Jane Fonda”), jazz legend Dewey Redman with Asha Puthli, and will make his Hollywood debut playing dhol in the movie, Accidental Husband, starring Uma Thurman, Colin Firth, and Isabella Rossellini.
In 2007 Sunny became the first ever artist endorser for India’s largest and oldest musical manufacturer, Bina Music and he exclusively uses Vater drumsticks.
Press
"Powering it all with shifting tempos, a vast array of percussive colors and rhythmic aplomb is bandleader Jain, bringing worlds together in seamless fashion".  (JazzTimes, Bill Milkowski)

“...by pounding out rhythms on both sides of the barrel-shaped drum slung over his shoulder, or blowing his whistle, inciting both performers and audience toward even greater heights of delight.” (Music Connection, Henry Lewis)
Projects 

Sunny Jain Collective
Sunny Jain leads an emerging movement of South Asian-American jazz musicians who bring together America’s greatest original art form and the ancient sounds of their cultural heritage. Touted as one of the premier groups establishing the new music of Indo Jazz, Sunny Jain Collective exploits the shared improvisational character of these traditions to unparalleled effect, with odd-time signatures and vast tonal range. Since its inception in 2002, Sunny Jain Collective has received international acclaim for their organic blend of jazz and pan-Indian music.
Sunny Jain - drumset
Rez Abbasi - guitar/sitar-guitar
Steve Welsh - saxophones/effects
Gary Wang – bass


Taboo draws upon the ancient poetic form of ghazal and combines lyricism with jazz and world music. Sunny's musical compositions are based around poems addressing issues such as religion, homosexuality and violence towards women, issues "taboo" in South Asian culture.  Some of the poems are written by Ali Mir, Ifti Naseem, Ishrat Afreen, Kishwar Naheed, Vikram Seth, and Erin Thomas.
Taboo
This project was commissioned by Chamber Music America's New Works program. The premiere of this project was at Joe's Pub, NYC on December 13th, 2007 and co-sponsored by Sakhi for South Asian Women and Breakthrough. The current personnel includes Sunny Jain (drumset/dhol), Marc Cary (piano), Nir Felder (guitar) Gary Wang (bass), plus guest vocalists, Achyut Joshi, Sheetal Karhade, Samita Sinha, Shayna Steele, Sachal Vasandani, YaliniDream.
Debut recording to be released in May 2010 on Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records label.


Asphalt Orchestra
A new marching band developed by Bang on a Can, premiering works commissioned for Lincoln Center's 50th Anniversary from Goran Bregovic, Tyondai Braxton (of Battles), and Stew and Heidi Rodewald. The band will also perform original arrangements of iconoclastic rock, jazz, and classical material--all to movement created by MacArthur Fellowship winning choreographer Susan Marshall. The Asphalt Ochestra shows also include world-premiere arrangements of works by: Björk, Meshuggah, Charles Mingus, Colon Nancarrow and Frank Zappa.
Ken Thomson - saxophones
Peter Hess - saxophones
Alex Hamlin - saxophones
Jessica Schmitz - piccolo
Shane Endsley - trumpet
Stephanie Richards - trumpet
Alan Ferber - trombone
Jen Baker - trombone
Kenny Bentley - sousaphone
Yuri Yamashita - quad toms
Nick Jenkins - bass drum/cymbal
Sunny Jain - snare drum/cymbal

Jazz pianist, composer and filmmaker Steve Blanco has been forging ahead with self-made creative works for over a decade. The son of a French-speaking Moroccan belly dancer (mother) and film editor with a love of music and art (father), Blanco was exposed to artistic expressions from many different cultures. Growing up he learned the trumpet then drums and didn't arrive at the piano until age 23.
Steve Blanco Trio
Blanco has released three critically acclaimed CDs, produced a music video (directed by Blanco) and currently leads a piano trio with Adam Roberts and Sunny Jain, but performs regularly in solo and duo settings. The trio has performed in many venues including: Domaine, Detour Jazz Club, Williamsburg Jazz Festival, Rockwood Music Hall, Watercolor Cafe, Caffe Vivaldi, The Museum of American Folk Art, The Pierre Hotel, World Yacht, Bimhuis in Amsterdam and a multitude of other establishments.
The trio's latest outing is entitled Piano Warrior for Art of Life Records

Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz
Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz is an open invitation to join others in a series of interactive musical activities that inspire self-expression and celebrate the creative process.  Founded nearly a decade ago by Hayes Greenfield, saxophonist, composer, and recording artist, Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz has helped thousands of students, teachers, and families make the connection between jazz and the development of important social and personal skills.
In the hands of Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz's professional ensemble players, the elements of jazz -- call and response, melody, improvisation, rhythm, dynamics -- become tools for helping students and audiences explore how communication, active listening, positive risk-taking, cooperation, and creative expression contribute to music-making and in fact, impact the world around them.
The group's latest outing is Music for a Green Planet, a reworking of popular children songs with new lyrics addressing environmental concerns and sustainability.

Samita Sinha – guest vocals


Red Baraat
Led by Sunny Jain, Red Baraat is the first and only dhol ‘n’ brass band of its kind in the States, melding the infectious North Indian rhythm Bhangra with brass funk and expressing the human spirit through improvisation, and a powerful live sound. Comprised of dhol (double-sided, barrel-shaped North Indian drum slung over one shoulder), percussion and horns, this NYC-based group excites audiences with fresh originals, classic Hindi songs with an explosive stage presence and performance.
Sunny Jain  - dhol / drumset / percussion / MC
Rohin Khemani - tavil / doumbek / percussion
Tomas Fujiwara - drumset / percussion
Arun Luthra - soprano sax
Mike Bomwell - baritone sax
Sonny Singh - trumpet / vocals
MiWi La Lupa - bass trumpet
Dave Smith - trombone
John Altieri - sousaphone / rap

2010 Brooklyn Jazz Underground Festival.
Sunny Jain - drums
Donny McCaslin - tenor sax
Dave Cook - piano
Gary Wang - bass
"Mango Festival" by Sunny Jain

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