Articles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

ALBUM REVIEW May 24, 2010

Sunny Jain: Taboo

The sentences “Some things shouldn't be discussed in public" or “Don't ask, don't tell," are archaic phrases that still persist when speaking about forbidden subjects. South Asian drummer/composer Sunny Jain addresses some of these forbidden topics in Taboo, a scintillating project where he artfully uses his music as a platform to address social issues such as “sexual orientation, inequality and violence upon women, and the juxtaposition of religions." While such topics may continue to be controversial, this release is equally ...

ALBUM REVIEW January 16, 2010

Red Baraat: Chaal Baby

By Elliott Simon

Percussionist Sunny Jain has already impressed as a musician who weaves disparate musical worlds into new universes. Chaal Baby, from his Red Baraat band, produces incredibly infectious celebratory dance music using Punjabi bhangra rhythms, funk and Jain's skills on the dhol, a double-sided North Indian drum. The result is a brassy percussive party that doesn't stop rocking until the final cut is over. The brass band milieu has given rise to various ethnic/jazz combinations that lean heavily ...

ALBUM REVIEW June 5, 2006

Sunny Jain Collective: Avaaz

By Budd Kopman

The Sunny Jain Collective is part of a growing group of musicians whose roots are from South Asia (primarily India, but also countries like Cambodia and Thailand) and are naturally cross-fertilizing with other practitioners. Artists like Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa are developing a new kind of Indo-jazz fusion. The leaders of this movement are usually first-generation Americans with strong ties to the music of their parents' homeland. Rather than feeling trapped, cut off or shortchanged, and ...