RED BARAAT'S NEW ALBUM CHANNELS A MUSLIM-JEWISH WEDDING, STEWART COPELAND AND BHANGRA

New York's seasoned act drum up a storm of psychedelic rock, brass band euphoria and Desi folk elements

- By ANURAG TAGAT

In addition to touring the U.S. as a fusion act, New Yorkbased 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.”