Felix Contreras | January 12, 2024
From the very first note, Sunny Jain’s music promotes the idea of not just crossing boundaries but obliterating them all together.

The percussionist, composer and bandleader has roots in South Asia and his band and album Wild Wild East are expertly adept at infusing the sounds and melodies of that part of the world into an intense yet joyful performance. There are references to his parents’ journey to the U.S., Sufi dance music and the mash-up of Bollywood and the Italian westerns of the 1960s.

Sunny Jain’s latest musical exploration is another road taken from his days leading the Brooklyn bhangra band Red Baraat (which did an explosive Tiny Desk concert in 2017) and if you listen closely you’ll hear how unique his musical vision is. In fact, if his musical projects were actual travel junkets, I would whip out my passport and jump on board as soon as I could.

SET LIST
“Immigrant Warrior”
“Brooklyn Dhamal”
“Wild Wild East”
“Blackwell”

MUSICIANS
Sunny Jain: drumset, dhol drum
Ben Parag: vocals
Alison Shearer: soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, flute
Almog Sharvit: bass
Shubh Saran: guitar

TINY DESK TEAM
Producers: Felix Contreras, Bob Boilen
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Kara Frame, Catie Dull, Maia Stern
Audio Assistant: Phil Edfors
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Elizabeth Gillis
Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Joshua Bryant, Hazel Cills
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

#tinydesk #nprmusic #sunnyjain