Sunny Jain
Sunny Jain | |
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Background information | |
Born | Rochester, New York, United states |
Genres | Jazz, world, bhangra, drum & bass |
Occupation(s) | Dhol player, drummer, composer, producer, bandleader, singer |
Instruments | dhol |
Years active | 1993–present |
Labels | Sinj Records |
Associated acts | Junoon, Red Baraat |
Website |
www |
Sunny Jain is an American dhol player, drummer, and composer. He is recognized as a lead voice in the burgeoning movement of South Asian-American jazz musicians.[1] His seven albums have all received international acclaim for their "groundbreaking synthesis" (Coda Magazine), as he brings together the ancient sounds of his cultural heritage, America's greatest original art form and a host of other sounds.
Career
Jain has performed/recorded with Kiran Ahluwalia, Asphalt Orchestra, Joey Baron, Kenny Barron, Marc Cary, Samir Chatterjee, DJ Rekha, Kyle Eastwood, Peter Gabriel, Grupo Fantasma, Norah Jones, Junoon, Andres Levin, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Marching Fourth Band, Q-Tip, Soul Rebels, Martha Wainwright, Kenny Wollesen, and many others.
Jain has been a recipient of composition and performance grants from the Aaron Copland Music Fund, Chamber Music America, Meet the Composer, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, globalFEST and received the Arts International Award in both 2005 and 2003 to enable touring India with his jazz group, Sunny Jain Collective. In 2002, Jain was designated a Jazz Ambassador by the U.S. Department of State and The Kennedy Center,[2] for which he toured West Africa. Jain is the author of 2 instructional drum books for Alfred Publishing: The Total Jazz Drummer[3] and Drum Atlas: India.[4][5]
In 2007 Jain became the first artist endorser for India’s largest and oldest musical manufacturer, Bina Music, and he exclusively uses Vater drumsticks.[6]
Red Baraat
Red Baraat | |
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Origin | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
Genres | Bhangra, world, jazz, go-go |
Years active | 2008 | -present
Labels | Sinj Records |
Website |
www |
Members |
Sunny Jain Rohin Khemani Tomas Fujiwara Mike Bomwell Sonny Singh MiWi La Lupa Ernest Stuart John Altieri |
In 2008, Jain founded the Brooklyn Bhangra band, Red Baraat. "One of the best party bands around. Favorite Live Shows of 2011" (NPR).[7] This past year Red Baraat performed over 100 club shows and festivals across the world, including Bonnaroo Music Festival, High Sierra Music Festival and a performance at the White House and the Paralympics closing ceremony in London. "Banging out their high-octane fusion they're irresistible: serial party-starters".[8]
In just four years, the Brooklyn dhol ‘n’ brass party juggernaut Red Baraat have made a name for themselves as one of the best live bands playing anywhere in the world. Led by dhol player Sunny Jain, the eight piece band consisted of dhol, drumset, percussion, sousaphone and five horns, melds the infectious North Indian rhythm Bhangra with a host of sounds, namely funk, go-go, Latin, and jazz. Simply put, Sunny Jain and Red Baraat have created and defined a sound entirely their own.
The band will release their 2nd studio album, Shruggy Ji, in early 2013.
The group's 2011 release, Bootleg Bhangra, is the band’s live show captured at Brooklyn’s Southpaw on the band’s second anniversary. With songs pulled primarily from their debut album, Chaal Baby, the group was mindful of the challenge to capture a rapturous live sound on record. Well, it happened on this night, and the resulting document places you squarely in that small Brooklyn club jammed from front to back with hip shaking beauties - hands raised to a ceiling dripping with condensation.
The title track from their debut album, Chaal Baby, was used as the background music for the promo ads for the hit FX TV show It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. After the group’s performance at the 2011 globalFEST, Red Baraat was a top pick favorite and featured on PRI’s The World, NPR’s All Songs Considered, New York Times, The Village Voice and Mother Jones magazine. The group's debut CD was voted as a top world music release of 2010 by The Boston Globe.[9]
Since their inception in October 2008, Red Baraat has performed at globalFEST, Montreal Jazz Festival, Sunfest, Festival De Louisiane, Quebec City Summer Festival, Chicago World Music Festival, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Madison World Music Festival, New Orleans Jazz Festival, Pori Jazz Festival (Finland), Molde Jazz Festival (Norway) and Chicago Folks & Roots Festival, among many others.
Red Baraat appeared on John Schaefer's Soundcheck WNYC-FM 93.9, an NPR affiliate, in which they were picked as a top live radio performance of 2009.[10] They also recorded the credit roll theme song for the movie The Yes Men Fix the World and performed for the 2009 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (NYC) for Ports 1961 runway models. Red Baraat has been featured in National Geographic,[11] The Wall Street Journal,[12] The New Yorker,[13] Relix,[14] PopMatters,[15] and Songlines, among many others.
Junoon
Jain is also the drummer and dhol player for Junoon, the biggest rock band to emerge from South Asia. In 2011, they recorded the single "Open Your Eyes" featuring Peter Gabriel to raise awareness and funds for Pakistani flood victims. In 2010, Junoon delivered a Concert for Pakistan at the United Nations in NYC, for the displaced refugees in the Swat Valley.[16] The band closed out 2007 with a milestone performance at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway, playing for Nobel Laureates Al Gore and Rajendra Paucharia. Jain played dhol/percussion in the first Indian Broadway show, Bombay Dreams (2004) and made his Hollywood debut playing dhol in the movie The Accidental Husband,[17] starring Uma Thurman, Colin Firth, and Isabella Rossellini.
Discography
- Self
- Taboo (Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records 2010)
- Avaaz (SinJ Records 2006)
- Mango Festival (ZoHo Music 2006)
- As Is (NCM East Records 2002)
- With Red Baraat
- Shruggy Ji (SinJ Records 2013)
- Bootleg Bhangra (SinJ Records 2011)
- Chaal Baby (SinJ Records 2010)
- As a sideman
- Sarina Jain - The Masala Bhangra Workout: Bhangra Burn DVD (2012)
- Asphalt Orchestra (Canteloupe Music 2010)
- Junoon - Rock & Roll Jihad (Nameless Sufi Music 2010)
- Michael Leonhart - Seahorse & The Storyteller (Truth & Soul 2010)
- Cucu Diamantes - Cucu Land (Fun Machine 2010)
- Sam Sadigursky - The Words Project (New Amsterdam 2010)
- Sarina Jain - The Masala Bhangra Workout: Hollywood Bollywood Style DVD (2010)
- Steve Blanco Trio - Piano Warrior (Art of Life Records 2009)
- Brooklyn Jazz Underground - Volume 3 (BJU Records 2009)
- Hayes Greenfield - Music For a Green Planet (Dots and Lines 2008)
- Brooklyn Jazz Underground - Volume 2 (BJU Records 2008)
- Brooklyn Jazz Underground - Volume 1 (BJU Records 2007)
- Kaash - Seep (SinJ Records 2006)
- Steve Blanco Trio - Contact (Insomnia Creations 2006)
- JC Hopkins Biggish Band - Underneath A Brooklyn Moon (Tigerlily Records 2005)
- David Cook - Green (Independent 2002)
- Sheryl Bailey Quartet - Reunion of Souls (Pure Music Records 2001)
- Chris Bergson Trio - Wait For Spring (Juniper Records 2000)
- Propulsive - Massive Grooves (Blue Raven Records 2000)
Written works
- Drum Atlas: India (Alfred Publishing)
- The Total Jazz Drummer (Alfred Publishing)
References
- ↑ "Sunny Jain". Jazziz. December 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ "Sunny Jain". The Kennedy Center. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ Jain, Sunny (2007). The Total Jazz Drummer. Alfred Publishing. pp. 1–127. ISBN 9780739038529.
- ↑ Jain, Sunny (2009). Drum Atlas: India. Alfred Publishing. pp. 1–48. ISBN 9780739053003.
- ↑ "Sunny Jain". Alfred Music Publishing. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ "Sunny Jain". Vater Percussion. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ Boilen, Bob. "Bob Boilen's Favorite Live Shows of 2011". All Songs Considered. NPR. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ Iqbal, Nosheen (5 September 2012). "Red Baraat: Indian wedding sounds with attitude". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ Mitter, Siddhartha (19 December 2012). "Siddhartha Mitter's top 10 world music CDs of 2010". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ "Red Baraat". Soundcheck. New York Public Radio. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ Dede, Mehmet (19 January 2010). "The Nat Geo Music Interview: Red Baraat". National Geographic. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ Catton, Pia (7 July 2010). "A Big Band for the World". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ "Goings on About Town". The New Yorker. 22 March 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ Jarnow, Jesse (12 April 2010). "Red Baraat". Relix. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ "Red Baraat perform at Brooklyn Masonic Temple on December 14, 2012". PopMatters. 21 December 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- ↑ Concert for Pakistan @ The United Nations (part 1) on YouTube
- ↑ Sunny Jain at the Internet Movie Database
External links
- Red Baraat on NYC Radio LIVE!
- Sunny Jain website
- Red Baraat website
- Jainsounds website
- The Jazz Session features Sunny Jain's Taboo music.
- Downbeat magazine feature on Sunny Jain.
- Times of India feature on Sunny Jain and Red Baraat.
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