Bandleader, Composer, Drummer, and Dhol Player Sunny Jain will perform distinct shows at Symphone Space in January, with each show giving focus to a specific side of his genre-spanning artistry. The concerts take place in Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia theater, January 28 – February 9, 2023.
The career of Sunny Jain is a celebration of cultural diaspora with deep-rooted tradition that ripples outward, changing, and being changed by, the cultures it touches. Called the “Hendrix of dhol” by Manchester Salon (UK), he is best 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.”
2022 has been a banner year for Jain. He joined Planet Drum for their first show in 15 years, playing alongside drumming legends Mickey Hart (The Grateful Dead), Zakir Hussain, and Giovanni Hidalgo. He embarked on a milestone tour to Pakistan with his Wild Wild East band, after headlining the renowned Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington D.C. He debuted the 8-piece Bollywood Biggish Band at Lincoln Center, NYC, drawing close to 1,000 people for their “Celebrate Love” event. Jain also started developing his first musical theatrical piece called Love Force—commissioned by Joe’s Pub New York Voices, and supported by National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts—after he was awarded the MAP Fund in 2021. All the while, Jain was globe-trotting with Red Baraat.
Jain’s Symphony Space music residency begins on Saturday, January 28, at 7:30pm with Jain’s Wild Wild East, an eclectic evening of music that explores the meeting of east and west, Jain’s identity as a first-generation South Asian–American, and his own family’s immigration story. The music melds Bollywood, Spaghetti Westerns, Punjabi folk, jazz, and psychedelic surf guitar. Reviewing the Wild Wild East album—Jain’s first in a decade, released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in 2020—Jon Pareles of The New York Times called the title track “furiously propulsive,” and many have acclaimed the album as Jain’s best work yet. Pitchfork wrote, “Many of these compositions are intellectually thrilling to unravel,” noting its “shimmering walls of sound [that] feel like floating face-down in a pool and watching light patterns dance on the floor.” The performance at Symphony Space features Ben Parag (vocals), Lynn Ligammari (tenor saxophone), Shubh Saran (guitar), and Almog Sharvit (bass), in addition to Sunny Jain (drumset, dhol).
On Saturday, February 4 at 7:30pm, the residency continues with American Lullabies, an exploration of the music of Jain’s American experience that combines the soundtrack of his childhood (Jain Bhajans: devotional songs from the 6,000-year-old Indian religion, Jainism) with progressive rock and jazz. Jain is joined by Ganavya (vocals), Grey Mcmurray (guitar), and Shazad Ismaily (bass).
Concluding the residency, on Thursday, February 9, at 7:30pm, is Dholusion, in which Jain is joined by Yamini Kalluri (dancer), Adam O’Farrill (trumpet), and Eva Lawitts (bass), blending the Indian classical dance tradition of Kuchipudi with folk percussion and jazz. Based on musical improvisation, this project creates an entirely fresh sound.
Symphony Space is located on the Upper Level at 2537 Broadway, Manhattan. Tickets can be purchased here.
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