Sunny Jain Challenging Classical Notion Of Cowboy
W&L’s Lenfest Center for the Arts will welcome Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East for a daring musical investigation and challenging of American myth and global identities on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in the Keller Theatre.
The sounds of Wild Wild East can’t be contained within words or genres. A kaleidoscope of global sounds, it’s an expression of American spirit that honors the multitudes of cultures, peoples, and stories the country contains. The surf guitar and bansuri flute accompany the dhol in a musical migration from east to west, a modern cowboy’s journey. Audiences travel with the band across the borders of uncountable genres, guided by expertly interconnected global sounds.
Sunny Jain is a composer, jazz drummer and a dhol player. A first-generation South Asian American from Rochester, New York, Jain uses his music to put diverse sounds into conversation with each other. Each of his albums pays homage to his own diverse background and experiences. Jain has brought his energy to stages across the world, including the Monterey Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center, and at the London Paralympic Games.
Wild Wild East took shape following the 2016 election and through the album’s development Jain challenged the classical notion of the American cowboy. The traits of the cowboy —the courage to leave a homeland and move west, the bravery of learning to find your place in an unexplored world — Jain suggests, belong to the immigrant. “I think what shines through doing this album is the coming forward of the multiple identities of an immigrant — in my case being Indian American — not just this longing for South Asia and India, but the fact that I am American and there’s many complex interactions within all that,” Jain says. Tickets prices are $35 for the general public, $32 for seniors, $29 for W&L faculty and staff and $8 for students. Online ticket sales are available at https://my.wlu.edu/lenfest-center/ sunny-jain-wild-wild-east.
Patrons can contact the box office by calling (540) 458-8000 or emailing [email protected].
