Jim Sykes is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Pennsylvania. His research is in sound and music studies, religious studies, labor history/capitalism, and conflict studies, focusing to date on Sri Lanka and Singapore. He is the co-editor of Remapping Sound Studies (Duke University Press, 2019). He is also a drummer who has recorded and toured widely with numerous experimental and indie rock groups.

Winner of the Bruno Nettl Prize from the Society for Ethnomusicology

"In his multicultural analysis of Sri Lanka's soundscape, Sykes emphasizes the public exchange of melodies and rhythms, rituals and dances, between the island's diverse religions and ethnicities. This is an anthropologically rich book presenting a strong case against musical ethno-nationalism." -- Dennis B. McGilvray, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Past President of the American Institute of Sri Lankan Studies

"As assertions about music and the state become increasingly cliché, The Musical Gift provides a timely critique of the "music and identity episteme." Focusing on acts of musical giving, the author provides a wide-ranging study of interpenetrating musical histories in Sri Lanka - shared histories that have implications for post-war reconciliation. Music scholars, anthropologists, and South Asianists may all find something useful and surprising in this exciting new work." -- Richard K. Wolf, Professor of Music and South Asian Studies, Harvard University