Let it RIFF

Afro-American and Latin rhythms will fuse with folk tunes in this years Jodhpur RIFF.

Once every year,as if marking the end of summer,the desert town of Jodhpur bursts into a riot of song and dance. The event,called the Jodhpur RIFF or the Jodhpur music festival,begins its fifth edition on October 13. So,this year,Mehrangarh Fort,the venue that lords over the skyline of the blue city,is sprucing up for music from the islands of the Indian Ocean.

There is,as usual,also the unmistakable murmurs about Mick Jagger,the Rolling Stones front man who is the international patron of the festival. If Mr Rubberlips is present,he will get to hear the music of the Band of Brothers,made up of two pairs of brothers Slava and Leonard Grigoryan from Kazakhstan and Joseph and James Tawadros from Egypt. This Australian band specialises in revving up the guitar and oud,and matching these with the hard beats of Egyptian percussion. Also on the agenda is vocalist Davy Sicard from Reunion Island,famous for singing a cappella (without any accompanying instruments).

Our team travelled to many places to attend live concerts by artistes and shortlisted some to participate in the festival, says Divya Bhatia,the director of the festival. The festival has Maharaja Gaj Singh as the chief patron,and is being organised in collaboration with the Jaipur Virasat Foundation and Mehrangarh Museum Trust.

The festival will open at Jaswant Thada,the royal burial ground near the Mehrangarh Fort,where the Meghwals of Mewar (a community involved with the tanning of hides) will greet the morning sun with throaty renditions of devotional bhajans. From the spirituality of the morning to divine romanticism under the full moon thats what playback singer Kavita Seth promises. The festival is a platform for me to showcase my style as I wasnt a playback singer to start with. Seth is attending the festival for the first time. Her performance will be followed by a World Jazz night,featuring a collaboration between renowned jazz player

Yuri Honing and Rajasthani singer Sumitra.

Bhanwari Devi,a folk singer from Mewar,takes over on the second day,confident in the knowledge that many in the audience have been drawn to the fort to listen to her alone. A virtuoso performer,she has been a show stealer at RIFF in earlier years with her loud and uninhibited vocals. Her songs of love and parting have earned her a place at a festival in Edinburgh early next year. She will perform at the

National Museum of Scotland,as a part of the festival.

But the finale is the one that regulars and newcomers at the festival will look forward to. This time,Indian-origin beat boxer Jason Singh promises to raise the temperature with his collaboration with moorchang artiste Rais Khan. Singhs vocal imitation of turntables and drum sounds mixes with the music of Rajasthani folk artistes an experiment that enthralled audiences two years ago. I have some new compositions. You will see the result when we mix it with exotic sounds of moorchang,the wooden khartaals and vocals. We dont speak each others language but our music communicates so easily with each other, says Manchester-based Singh,who recently composed the background score for 1931 silent

film,Drifters.For tickets,visit http://www.jodhpurfolkfestival.org

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Let it RIFF

Afro-American and Latin rhythms will fuse with folk tunes in this years Jodhpur RIFF.

Afro-American and Latin rhythms will fuse with folk tunes in this years Jodhpur RIFF.