Red Baraat. Photo: Sachyn Mital
In addition to touring the U.S. as a fusion act, New York-based band Red Baraat are also a wedding band. A couple of years ago, bandleader, founder, and dhol player Sunny Jain was asked to perform at a Muslim-Jewish wedding. Here, they were asked to put their own spin on the traditional Jewish song “Hava Nagila” for the baraat.
It was the first time Jain and the band—known for their bhangra, jazz-fusion and psych-rock energy—were playing “Hava Nagila” and after a 20-minute jam, the drummer says what ensued was “20 minutes of epic-ness.” He adds, “Speeding up, slowing down… me not immediately realizing I was in control of this Muslim-Jewish dance party, through the beat of my dhol drum.”
Red Baraat then headed into the studio to try to capture the essence of that performance, and Jain later wanted to give it a different arrangement, adding new parts. After donning his producer hat, Jain went on to add Pakistani rapper SMK and Sufi vocalists Bakshi Brothers for what became “Bhangra Rangeela,” the title track off Red Baraat’s new album.
If the creation of that track from a wedding performance wasn’t indicative enough, Red Baraat is all about pluralism. “Community has always been at the core of my work,” Jain says, adding that it’s something he’s learned about his music in retrospect. Their previous album, Sound The People (2018), was more political in its commentary, a reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump being elected for his first term. Bhangra Rangeela—a mix of new original music and remixes of songs from albums like Bhangra Pirates (2017) and Chaal Baby (2010)—sees the flip side, wanting to bring people together and “break down barriers.”
He hopes that people see the album as a way to come out of their “silos of social media.” Jain adds, “I do still believe that we just want community, and love, and so that’s all we wanted to do in Bhangra Rangeela—to show that colorful display collectively, with the South Asian diaspora here in the States.”
In addition to bhangra beats, Red Baraat also pulls out another Bhangra Pirates song, “Bhangale,” featuring guitarist Delicate Steve, inspired by a 12/8 groove often heard in Telugu film music.
Red Baraat also tapped New York-bred desi artists like Karsh Kale (“Layers”) and DJ Rekha (“Thums Up”) for remixes, plus the collective/label Indo Warehouse’s DJ-producer Kahani (another take on “Thums Up”). Jain says, “I love their artistry. Rekha brings her hip-hop Basement Bhangra [club night] energy, Karsh has electronics, and Kahani, he’s got this new kind of electronic, Indo-house thing, and they’re all bringing the community together in different ways.”
Another great addition was Stewart Copeland, co-founder and drummer of the legendary band The Police, who added drums and remixed “Gaadi of Truth,” originally on the album Bhangra Pirates. “I grew up with Rush and the police and Zeppelin. These are some of my drumming gods, along with Zakir Hussain,” Jain says. Working back and forth from Los Angeles and New York, Jain says Copeland was “totally into the Red Baraat vibe because there are so many drummers in it already.”
Jain credits the connection to marketing specialist Neil Benson, who was working for management company Opus 3 Artists years ago. “When I asked him [Copeland] if he would be interested in doing a remix of this whole track, he said, ‘Can I do anything with it?’ I said sure and sent him the stems. I was actually surprised that he decided to record himself on it,” Jain recalls.
Beyond his work with Red Baraat, Jain recently appeared in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, something that came up “randomly.” Not an actor by any means, Jain was contacted by one of the contracting parties from the film project, who were looking for “an Indian person to play tambourine and sing a traditional Indian song.” He had to go back to seek clarity on what (and which) kind of traditional Indian song they were seeking. “They sent me various samples—Baul songs, qawwali, bhajans, stuff from all over the subcontinent.”
He suggested singing a Jain bhajan, reeling off a few he could sing, but insisting on knowing about the scenes they would be used in to minimize any chance of the performance being misread or taken as offensive. That’s when the makers told him about Dylan—played by Timothee Chalamet—coming to New York for the first time and coming across a tambourine man, which inspired his song. First seen in the trailer of A Complete Unknown, Jain portrays a local musician, playing tambourine and jamming on the devotional song “Om Jai Mahavir Prabhu.” After a whole day of shooting, when it was time for a break, Jain recounts how an older Indian man who played an extra came up to the artist, incredulous that a Jain aarti song was being played on the set of a Bob Dylan biopic. “I funnily kind of rewrote history. Maybe Dylan was influenced by a Jain bhajan?” he says with a laugh.
There might be theories about that in the future, thanks to this scene, but what has changed is the way desi artists are currently informing music around the world. From Sid Sriram to Hanumankind to Ali Sethi and Red Baraat’s own NPR Tiny Desk performances, the increasing spotlight on South Asian diaspora voices in music isn’t lost on Jain, who sees it as both natural and overdue.
“South Asians make up 17 percent of the global population, so it makes sense that our music is gaining recognition,” he observes. “From Ravi Shankar to Anoushka Shankar to Ali Sethi, we’re seeing more acceptance and appreciation of South Asian music globally.”
For their part, Red Baraat are kicking off a launch tour through the U.S., hoping that they can put out the message of Bhangra Rangeela loud and clear. “We’re committed to touring throughout the year and bringing our music to as many communities as possible,” he says.
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