Chronicles of fort fusion

Jodhpur’s Mehrangarh fort echoed with some unorthodox musical mixes at the ninth edition of the Rajasthan International Folk Festival

Yet again, the Jodhpur RIFF (Rajasthan International Folk Festival), now in its ninth year, will be remembered for some exciting and unorthodox musical face-offs that it showcased. The festival has over the years strived to put the enormous Rajasthani folk music talent on the global map. To that end it invites musicians from around the world to match notes with local folk musicians of Rajasthan, chiefly the Manganiyar community. This time there were musicians from as far as Finland, Ghana, Brazil, Scotland, Israel and South Africa. Among the star attractions were Grammy Award winners — flautist Wouter Kellerman and renowned Israeli bassist Yossi Fine. Also the festival saw its first Reggae night performed by Papa Julius and Zion Nexus. It did have a tepid start this year, but things didn’t take long to pick up. We take you through our favourite picks that echoed long after the curtains fell.

Shooglenifty and the Dhol Drummers of Rajasthan The Scotland based Celtic band with a twist, Shooglenifty, began their collaboration with Rajasthani musicians at RIFF last year. Back on popular demand, they totally lived up to the hype. Better known as the “Acid Crofters” back home, Shooglenifty blended their fiddles and mandolins and the guitars and the banjo with the Manganiyar dhol to create what they call a “hypno-folkadelic ambient trad”. It would be hard to imagine Celtic tunes and rhythms marrying the robust dhols, but one needs to hear it to believe that it can be a good idea indeed. It didn’t take the band even three numbers to get the crowd on their feet grooving to the tunes created on stage.

Wouter Kellerman & band with Mahesh Vinayakam and Dilshad Khan Held at the cenotaph of Jaswant Thada overlooking the lofty Mehrangarh fort with the sun climbing up the horizon in the background, no words could fully define this dawn performance. This was the first time that a Grammy winner performed at the RIFF dawns, barely three hours after his main stage performance the previous night, which was again a clincher. As lucid notes from Kellerman’s flute floated about, filling in the gaps were Mahesh’s spiritual Carnatic vocals and the mellow strains of Dilshad’s sarangi. Mahesh even managed to make this classical concert an interactive one, getting the audience to chip in with an occasional dhum tana nana and keep the rhythm. Once in a while, there would be some smooth humming of South African folk. Every note so diverse, yet the marriage so harmonious — this could well be the best act of the festival in many years.

Yossi Fine with Manganiyar musicians This world famous Israeli God of bass broke every rule in the book and showed us how bass can exist without drums — an almost sacrilegious thought for most. What’s amazing about Yossi is just how smooth an artiste he is. His solo bass show left the crowd hungry for more as he created one sonic wave after another. When the Manganiyars came in, the Grammy winner let them take centrestage and kept chipping in with his deep bass and dub vibes. It was a unique blend of African rhythm patterns alongside funky grooves and the rustic tones of the khartals and the dholaks. All worlds collided and harmonised with ease.

Brian Molley Quartet In a festival booming with the beats of percussion, Brian Molley Quartet’s jazz offering was an oasis of some mellow relief. It’s not common to see a jazz band bring a different swing to things, create a mixture of mellow moods with what’s called the “brandy” bass. It was a lyrical, contemporary and innovative spin on jazz from this Scotland based band that features saxophonist Brian Molley, Brazilian bassist Mario Caribe, Stuart Brown on drumbass and drums and young musician from Delhi Utsav Lal on the keyboard. There was some Latin rhythmic warmth with the romance of the saxophone teamed with the rich and potent notes from the Rajasthani musicians. A display of superior technique, playfulness and creativity.