Dhaivat Jani
Dhaivat Jani is a Toronto-based drummer, tabla player, and composer whose work explores the emotional complexity of the life he is living. Originally from Ahmedabad, India, his artistic voice is shaped by movement between cultures, drawing from both North Indian classical music and jazz.
He began studying tabla at the age of five and completed his Visharad with three gold medals by sixteen. He later moved to Toronto to study jazz as a drummer at Humber Polytechnic, where he earned a Bachelor of Music. Since making Toronto his home, collaborations with artists from diverse musical and cultural backgrounds have become central to his creative practice.
As a bandleader, Dhaivat leads Dhaivat Jani PLUS, a contemporary jazz ensemble, and Sounds of Stories, an improvisation-based storytelling project.
He has performed and recorded internationally, collaborating with artists including Pat LaBarbera, Kiran Ahluwalia, Roberto Occhipinti, Rez Abbasi, Adam Rudolph, and Naseer Shamma. Through all of his work, Dhaivat seeks to create music that reflects the complexity, connection, and beauty of being human.