It was only natural that Sunny Jain should find in jazz the answer to his identity crisis. An American of Indian origin, music is a spiritual activity for him. Besides, being a Jain, he grew up listening to bhajans and then moved on to classic jazz and blues.

"My Indian heritage and Jain background is obvious in my music and aspirations, just as my upbringing in America," he says.
Sunny will be jamming with local jazz musicians at Shangri-la's Jazz bar on Friday, 28 January and it promises to be one of those not-to-be-missed events on Kathmandu's jazz calendar.

Sunny is a musician 24/7. In roaring traffic, sledgehammers going off, in a plane, on the beach or the sound of footsteps on the sidewalk, everything is music to his ears. "That's how I perceive the world," he says. And when he picked up the drums, it fast grew from passion to profession.

The Sunny Jain Collective is a group that fuses east with west. Its jazz improvisation revisits Bollywood classics such as Aawaara Hoon and Aap Jaisa Koi, bhajans like Raghupati and Meri Bhabana. Their originals Mango Festival and Pink City are fresh and vibrant sounds. With a few electronic tweaks fed through a keyboard and then injected with Indian tunes, the Collective sound is different from mainstream jazz.

Sunny Jain has steadily been gaining popularity. He headlined the Atlanta Jazz Festival last year and has played at the New York City's famous Blue Note to sold-out tickets. He has also performed with Norah Jones, Kiran Aluwhalia, Seamus Blake, Kyle Eastwood, Dermit Driscoll, Lonnie Plaxico and Kenny Wollesen. The Sunny Jain Collective's debut album Mango Festival is truly a joyous celebration. "I was fascinated at a very young age by the sound of tablas but even more so by the rhythms of Indian music," says Sunny.

The Collective features Steve Welsh on tenor saxophone and effects, Gary Wang on bass, Rez Abbasi on guitar and Jain on drums. Avoiding clich?s the group reinvents music. In May 2002, Sunny Jain Collective released its debut CD As Is, which featured many of Jain's Indian flavoured compositions and arrangements. The group quickly gained recognition and support as it shared the bill with the renowned New Delhi band, Indian Ocean, at the Concert for Peace in South Asia in New York City.

A debut tour to India in November 2003, headlining at the Jazz Yatra Festival in Mumbai and New Delhi, brought the group instant recognition in their motherland. Now, the Sunny Jain Collective is joining the bandwagon to visit Kathmandu as it puts itself on the jazz map.

Navin from our very own group, Cadenza, is known to be as crazy about drums and jazz. He will be playing with the McTwisters, it is sure to be quite an event. The McTwisters, led by Czech Peter Kroutil features three members of the famous Nepali rock band 1974AD.

Jazz it Up with Sunny Jain Collective and the McTwisters on 28 January, 7 PM onwards at Shangri-la Hotel. Tickets Rs 999, 4412999