Sunny Jain Collective: Taboo at Joe’s Pub.

I caught the premier of Sunny Jain’s new project last Thursday at Joe’s Pub. Jain was commissioned by Chamber Music America and co-sponsored by Sakhi for South Asian Women and Breakthrough to compose music about the situation of domestic violence, homosexuality, and HIV/AIDS, (particularly as these issues pertain to women) so the title of the performance, Taboo, is well-chosen.

Taboo consists of Sunny Jain on the drums and dhol (more on this later) along with several regulars from the Sunny Jain Collective: Marc Cary on piano, Steve Welsh on tenor saxophone/sound effects, Gary Wang on bass, and Samita Sinha and Achyut Joshi sharing vocals. For the premier performance of this material the group faired well, although there were some definite rough patches.

Jain’s compositions are rooted firmly in the school of contemporary jazz, albeit the heavy South Asian influence of his melodies, and the sometimes Hindi and Urdu lyrics. More specifically, Jain’s music is contemporary jazz written by a drummer nerd, so there ran into a few rough spots during transitions in and out of several mixed-meter patterns. The microtonal component of South Asian vocal music add an extra layer of rhythmic complexity and nuance to songs like “Ye Mera Khuda”, “Hum Gunahgaar Auraten” and “Basa Bhagwaan”, so Taboo has to do a little more counting than the next band to make sure the grove stays intact and the eighth notes still swing.

Regardless, both Sinha and Joshi paid all the respect due to the rather grim themes at the core of Taboo’s mandate: domestic violence, HIV-positive women cast out of their homes, and a society unaccepting of homosexuality. Thankfully, the project’s lyrical content (from poets Vikram Seth, Kishwar Naheed, Ali Mir, Ifti Nasim, and Erin Thomas) managed to avoid overdrama, and the singers were able to fill the audience with a sense of scathing courage or comedy rather than helplessness. Mercifully, lyrics and translations were provided, so here’s a couple of highlights:

It is we sinful women/Who are not intimidated/By the magnificence of those who wear robes.

(“Hum Gunahgaar Auraten”/”We Sinful Women”—Kishwar Naheed)

In the strict ranks/of gay and straight/What is my status?/Stray or great?

(“Jack and Jill” —Vikram Seth)

One last note: I consider it partially misleading that Jain credits himself as playing the dhol. The only taste of the dhol the audience received lasted less than half a song, and it was really, really great. Jain stole the whole club’s attention during an introduction in which he suited on the two-headed drum, visibly restraining the urge to break out into the kind of hectic improvisation he brought to the kit. Disappointingly, that was all: more of a novelty to recharge the crowd’s batteries than as serious tool in Jain’s compositional catalog. Perhaps this was intentional, or perhaps the instrument was a casualty of the rather strict time limits that Joe’s Pub enforces. Or maybe it was the fact that New York just got slammed by a blizzard earlier in the day. One thing is certain, though: the Sunny Jain Collective’s got a long chain of upcoming gigs from December through February, and it’ll be great to see some of the pieces from Taboo when the band’s had a bit more time with them.