Soulful Rajasthani folk tunes combined with African music might sound like an odd combination to most,but the members of Amarrass Records,a music label formed in 2010,think otherwise. In a two-day music festival,Amarrass Desert Music Festival,the label will bring together folk artiste Lakha Khan,sarangi maestro Nihal Khan and sufi vocalist Mangey Khan,and well-known African musicians,Madou Sidike Diabate and Vieux Farka Toure. While Diabate will play the guitar and kora,a west-African stringed instrument,Milian singer Toure is the son of Grammy Award winner Ali Farka Toure Vieux and is also known as the Jimi Hendrix of the Desert. Rajasthan has so much to offer,its so rooted culturally. Our aim is to bring folk artistes to the forefront,without commercialising their music, says Ankur Malhotra,36,who is one of the four founders of Amarrass Records. The team plans to make the festival an annual feature and wants to dabble in other genres as well. Its about bringing the two deserts closer through music the Sahara Desert and the Thar Desert. Details of the event were put on Facebook a few weeks ago and weve got a great response, adds Malhotra. The concert will take place at Siri Fort Auditorium on November 26-27. Tickets are priced between Rs 500 and Rs 2,500.
