The career of composer, drummer and dhol player Sunny Jain is a celebration of cultural diaspora. Its deep-rooted tradition ripples outward, changing – and being changed by – the cultures that it touches. The ease with which Jain braids his sound highlights the interconnectedness of global styles — and that sense of connection goes beyond the music itself, as Jain leads his group across genre borders he knows are arbitrary. 

Defined by its restlessness, and daring enough to encompass many different identities, Wild Wild East is raucous, powerful, gorgeous, jubilant, dissonant, and built of a truly American spirit. In other words, it recognizes a world that’s always changing: today’s cowboy or cowgirl learns how to adapt to their conditions, seeing that they’re just as conditional as everything around them. 

Called the “Hendrix of dhol” by Manchester Salon (UK), Jain is most known for founding the pioneering band Red Baraat, a frenzied fusion of bhangra, hip-hop, jazz, rock, and sheer, unbridled energy. NPR called them “the best party band in years” and their 2017 NPR Tiny Desk concert was touted as the 8th best TDC of all time by New York Magazine. He and his current five-piece band have toured the country and the world with performances from his Smithsonian Folkways Recordings album Wild Wild East.