Bands
Indian Marching Band
Indian Marching Band is the first brass band in North America (2005) and brings the energy and excitement of the musical festivities found at Indian weddings. Comprised of dhol, percussion, and horns, this group plays traditional baraat songs, Punjabi songs, as well as classic Bollywood numbers. This band caters to baraats.
Red Baraat
In just three short years, the pioneering Brooklyn Bhangra-Funk band, Red Baraat, have made a name for themselves as one of the best live bands playing anywhere in the world. Led by dhol drummer Sunny Jain, the nine piece, comprised of dhol (double-sided barrel shaped North Indian drum slung over one shoulder), drumset, percussion, a sousaphone, and 5 horns, melds the infectious North Indian rhythm Bhangra with a host of sounds, namely funk, go-go, latin, and jazz. Simply put, Sunny Jain and Red Baraat have created and defined a sound entirely their own.
After the group’s performance at the 2011 globalFEST, Red Baraat was a top pick favorite and featured on PRI’s The World, NPR’s All Songs Considered, New York Times, The Village Voice and Mother Jones magazine. The group's debut CD, CHAAL BABY (Sinj Records) was voted by several music critics as a top world and jazz release of 2010 and the title track, Chaal Baby, is currently being used on the promo ads for the hit TV show, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Since their inception in October 2008, Red Baraat has delivered blistering performances at globalFEST, Voodoo Music Experience, Montreal Jazz Festival, Sunfest, Festival De Louisiane, Quebec City Summer Festival, Chicago World Music Festival, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Madison World Music Festival, New Orleans Jazz Festival, Pori Jazz Festival (Finland), Molde Jazz Festival (Norway), Shoreditch Festival (UK), The Barbican (UK) and Chicago Folks & Roots Festival, among many others. Red Baraat appeared on John Schaefer's Soundcheck WNYC-FM 93.9, an NPR affiliate, in which they were picked as a top live radio performance of 2009. They also recorded the credit roll theme song for the movie, The Yes Men Fix the World and performed for the 2009 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (NYC) for Ports 1961 runway models. Red Baraat has been featured in National Geographic, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Relix and Songlines, among many others.
Sunny Jain - Dhol player
From the resounding hall of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, to the Hollywood set of Uma Thurman’s Accidental Husband, to the ecstatic masses at baraats, Sunny Jain has quickly become a top NYC-based dhol player. Sunny Jain has been performing drums professionally for over 25 years now, with tours throughout the States, Canada, Europe, West Africa, India and Japan with some of the top musicians in the world. He is known in the musical world as a leading voice for Indo-Jazz (www.sunnyjain.com). In 2011, he was voted a Rising Star Percussionist by the Downbeat magazine critics poll. Sunny Jain made his professional debut as a dhol player playing in the first ever Indian Broadway show, Bombay Dreams (2004). He has since gone on to perform with the legendary sufi-rock group, Junoon, Masala Bhangra fitness guru, Sarina Jain (“The Indian Jane Fonda”), jazz legend Dewey Redman with Asha Puthli, Cucu Diamantes of the Latin Funk band, Yerba Buena, and Indian vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia. Sunny made his Hollywood debut playing dhol in the movie, Accidental Husband, starring Uma Thurman, Colin Firth and Isabella Rossellini. He closed out 2007 with a milestone performance with the famed sufi-rock band, Junoon, at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway. Aside from his credits as the dhol player for Red Baraat, Sunny also carries a long list of credits as jazz drummer and composer with performances with Joey Baron, Kenny Barron, Marc Cary, Samir Chatterjee, Kyle Eastwood, Roy Hargrove, Norah Jones, Q-Tip, and Martha Wainwright. He was designated a 2002 Jazz Ambassador by The Department of State and The Kennedy Center and subsequently received the Arts International Award in 2003 and 2005, and was commissioned in 2006 by Chamber Music America and in 2008 by Aaron Copland Recording Fund to compose and record new music. Sunny has also authored 2 instructional drum books for Alfred Publishing, including one on the application of Indian rhythms and concepts to the drumset.
Indo-Jazz Ensemble
Performing jazzed-up versions of Bollywood hits, such as Aap Jaisa Koi, Awaara Hoon, Kal Ho Na Ho, Chunnari Chunnari, Dum Maro Dum, Kabhi Kabhi and Indo-jazz stylized originals. Additionally, the group performs jazz classics from the standard repertoire of Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and other famous American composers. This group includes drumset, acoustic bass, piano and saxophone.
What is a baraat?
Baraat is Hindi for a marriage procession. In North India, it is a tradition on the day of the wedding for the groom to travel to his bride’s home on a magnificently decorated horse, accompanied by family and friends. Led by a dholi and/or a marching band, the live music is inseparable from this joyous celebration and naturally induces dancing and singing.
FIRST INDIAN BRASS BAND IN NORTH AMERICA
Sitar & Tabla
Performs exquisite Hindustani classical and light music on sitar, accompanied by the celebratory rhythms of tabla. Selected melodies to suit any occasion, be it romantic ragas or a fiery raga to liven things up.
