The career of Sunny Jain is a celebration of cultural diaspora: deep-rooted tradition that ripples outward, changing – and being changed by – the cultures that it touches. He is a composer, drummer, dhol player and community engager.
On May 21, 2021, Jain released Phoenix Rise, a collaborative effort featuring over 50 artists, such as Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Michael League (Snarky Puppy), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas), Endea Owens (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) and Joe Russo (jam band darling). Accompanying the full digital album is a 72-page physical book that combines music, art, photography and planet-based recipes, all in the name of social justice. As executive producer and music producer, Jain partnered with Center for Constitutional Rights to fundraise and advocate for the organization. 2021 also saw Jain receiving the MAP Fund, supporting the development of his first musical theater work, Love Force. The project was further commissioned by Joe’s Pubs New York Voices and New York State Council on the Arts in 2022.
On February 21 2020, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings released Jain’s first album in over a decade. Wild Wild East imagines the immigrant as the modern day cowboy, through the lens of Jain’s family history. Songlines (UK) named the album among their top 10 global music albums of the year. New York Times, Pitchfork, PopMatters and NPR gave it rave reviews and called it Jain’s best work yet.
Called the “Hendrix of dhol” by Manchester Salon (UK), Jain is also known for founding the band Red Baraat, a frenzied fusion of bhangra, hip-hop, jazz, rock, and sheer, unbridled energy that NPR has called “the best party band in years.” Since 2012, Jain has been curating Red Baraat Festival of Colors, a multi-city annual festival showcasing artists of the South Asian diaspora.
In 2019, Jain became musical director for the OBIE award-winning theatrical show, The Jungle. That same year, he also musical directed the massive celebration for Lincoln Center’s 60th Anniversary and St. Ann’s Warehouse gala. In 2014, NPR commissioned Jain to premiere a piece for “Make Music New York” day. Jain’s “100+ BPM” convened more than 350 musicians on the steps of the Brooklyn Public Library, including drum lines from the New York Jets, New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets.
In 2005, Jain founded the boutique artist-booking agency, Jainsounds, to offer high-quality live music for events and functions for the South Asian-American community. His company created the first baraat brass band in the States, an 18th century Indian wedding tradition, as well as the popular Bollywood Jazz Ensemble.
