Fuse Punjabi classics with a big band jazz sound and the result is Red Baraat’s Chaal Baby, it’s 2010 release on Sinj Records. With dhol-infused and brass-laden sounds, drummer Sunny Jain’s baby, Red Baraat introduces a new sound on Indo-Jazz. From the recognizable Punjabi Wedding Song (Balle Balle), to the bawdy Dum Maro Dum and to a rethink of Daler Mehndi’s Tunak Tunak Tun, Chaal Baby also features a number of original compositions including the rousing title track Chaal Baby and funky Baraat to Nowhere.
Sunny Jain, born to Punjabi immigrant parents and raised in upstate New York, has performed at such esteemed settings as the 2007 Nobel Peace Price Concert in Oslo, to the United Nations in New York. In between, you can find him at small jazz clubs in NYC and festival stages in India. He calls his sound dhol ‘n’ brass melding the infectious North Indian rhythm Bhangra with funk, soca and dramatic improvisatory conducting.
In 2002, Sunny was designated a Jazz Ambassador by the U.S. Department of State and The Kennedy Center. He then received the Arts International Award in both 2003 and 2005. 2004 saw Sunny playing dhol in the Broadway show “Bombay Dreams” and in 2005, Jazz Hot Magazine (France) featured Jain in their drummer issue, along with Lewis Nash, Horacio 'El Negro' Hernandez and Winard Harper. In 2006, Traps Magazine highlighted Sunny as a top New York City world jazz drummer. Sunny was commissioned in 2006 by Chamber Music America's New Works to compose new music for a project he later named, Taboo, and the young drummer also made his Hollywood debut playing dhol in the movie, Accidental Husband (2008), starring Uma Thurman, Colin Firth, and Isabella Rossellini. If anything, he is a very talented percussionist both in drums and dhol; Chaal Baby is a must-have addition to any collection.
