Recognized internationally, New York City based drummer Sunny Jain produces a unique sound filled with subtlety, energy and versatility, reflecting a talent wise beyond his years. His sense of originality transcends mere technical prowess and is instead captured in the overall picture of composition and musicality.
Entrenched in the music of his Indian culture at an early age, Sunny was also influenced by Western music during his childhood, namely the tradition of jazz. His exposure to various types of music created his unflinching desire to play music without boundaries.
As a leader, his group Sunny Jain Collective is touted as one of the premier groups establishing the new music of Indo Jazz. His group has been invited on multiple tours to India, Nepal and the States and was featured on MSNBC’s In Style program in October 2005, broadcast throughout India, Dubai, the UK and the States. "Sunny Jain stands out from other mainstream Jazz in North America and across the world as one who has had the courage to experiment with 'sounds'" Sonu Shankar, RSJ (India). His group was also featured on MTV Desi cable channel for their 2006 JVC Jazz Festival performance. “The total effect was electrifying and mesmerizing. Outstanding music played by musicians with fire and intellect." - All About Jazz, Budd Kopman.
Sunny Jain Collective has released 3 highly acclaimed recordings:
As Is (2002 NCM East Records)
"The young artist brings quite a bit to the forefront, witnessed on his IMPRESSIVE debut...Jain shines forth as a SIGNIFICANT composer†(All About Jazz, Glenn Astarita).
Mango Festival (2004 ZoHo Music)
"Powering it all with shifting tempos, a vast array of percussive colors and rhythmic APLOMB is bandleader Jain, bringing worlds together in seamless fashion. Mango Festival is a FRESH concept with BRILLIANT execution" (Jazztimes, Bill Milkowski).
“The band gathers their manifold influences into a coherent, if not GROUNDBREAKING synthesis†(CODA Magazine, John Chacona).
Avaaz (2006 Sinj Records)
“Stakes out SINGULAR TURF in this 21st Century world of cross-pollinating musical traditions†(Signal to Noise, Bill Barton).
“Drummer Sunny Jain DEFTLY mixes elements of traditional Indian music with hard-driving jazz†(Time Out New York).
In June 2005, Jazz Hot magazine (France) did a spread on Sunny in their drummer issue, which featured Lewis Nash, Horacio ‘El Negro’ Hernandez and Winard Harper. He was noted as a rising star for his fusion of jazz and Indian music. In September 2006, Traps magazine featured 3 New York City world jazz drummers: Sunny Jain, Francisco Mela, and Dafnis Prieto.
Sunny received the Arts International Award in both 2003 and 2005, and in 2006 he was a recipient of the Chamber Music America New Works grant, which commissions adventurous composers to write new music for their projects. Past recipients include Dave Douglass, Andrew Hill, Benny Maupin, Jason Moran, Greg Osby, Dafnis Prieto and David Sanchez.
As a sideman, Sunny is highly in demand and has been called upon to perform worldwide, appearing at such notable venues as Madison Square Garden (NYC), Blue Note (NYC, Japan), Jazz at Lincoln Center (NYC), Lincoln Center (NYC), The Kennedy Center (D.C.), South Asian Heritage Festival (Canada), Cork Guinness Jazz Festival (Ireland), Vitoria Jazz Festival (Spain), Gijon Jazz Festival (Spain), Pescara International Festival of Jazz (Italy), Cremona Jazz Festival (Italy), Lagoa Jazz Festival (Portugal), Pizza Express (England), Marian’s Jazz Room (Switzerland), The Musical Society of Nigeria (Nigeria), Detroit Jazz Festival and Saratoga Jazz Festival.
Sunny is the drummer for the famous sufi-rock band, Junoon, Hayes Greenfield’s Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz, Steve Blanco Trio and Samita Sinha’s KAASH. He has performed with several world-renowned artists such as Kiran Ahluwalia, Joey Baron, Kenny Barron, Seamus Blake, Marc Cary, Samir Chatterjee, Ted Dunbar, Kyle Eastwood, Kermit Driscoll, Gerald Cleaver, Norah Jones, Lonnie Plaxico, Dewey Redman, Jon Regen, Robyn Schulkowsky, Martha Wainwright, and Kenny Wollesen.
Sunny also plays the dhol (a double-sided barrel shaped drum originating from Punjab, India). Picking up this instrument in 2002, Sunny quickly fell in love with the sound of the dhol and eventually made his professional debut playing it for the first ever Indian Broadway show, Bombay Dreams (2004). He has since gone on to perform on dhol with Masala Bhangra fitness guru, Sarina Jain, The Himalayas (conducted by Kenny Wollesen and Jonathon Haffner), jazz legend Dewey Redman w/Asha Puthli and will make his Hollywood debut playing dhol in the upcoming movie, Accidental Husband, starring Uma Thurman, Colin Firth, Isabella Rossellini, and directed by Griffin Dunne. Most recently, Sunny has started up the Red Baraat Marching Band, comprised of dhol, percussion and horns. The group performs Punjabi songs, classic Bollywood numbers, and originals in the style of an Indian marching band. (See www.jainsounds.com for more info).
As an educator, Sunny has been invited to many various institutions to present workshops/masterclasses on such topics as jazz history, improvisation, composition, music business, world drumming, and South Asians in Music. He holds a B.M. in Jazz Performance from Rutgers University and an M.A. in Music Business from New York University. In 2002, Sunny was prestigiously designated a Jazz Ambassador Of The United States Of America by the Department of State and The Kennedy Center. As a Jazz Ambassador, Jain traveled to West Africa in Fall 2002 to present concerts and workshops for dignitaries and community members on the blues. In February 2007, Sunny’s 128 page instructional book, The Total Jazz Drummer was released by Alfred Publishing. Two more instructional books are slated for 2009. Sunny is on faculty at the National Guitar Workshop and Horace Mann. He is also one of ten members of the newly formed Brooklyn Jazz Underground.
