This classical music background eventually led him to ASU where he teaches music, and later to perform as principal timpanist with the Phoenix Symphony. This isn't bad, but I always thought there had to be another perspective. Sunkett provides that perspective. His curiosity and interest in African drumming became the focus of a doctoral dissertation, a video, and numerous recordings. For 10 years he has reveled in the accessibility of African music, especially from a performance perspective.
African music is more intrinsic.
Western jazz and rock music, both only recently studied from an academic perspective, may be more approachable. However, Sunkett says these forms of music are largely entertainment offered through concert events which people attend and then leave. African music, on the other hand, is integrated into the lives of the people it represents. Sunkett has traveled to the West African country of Senegal five times in the past decade. African music is so much a part of social involvement in the community.