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| Noteworthy at the fort |
| Neha Bhatt / New Delhi Aug 16, 2009, 00:44 IST |
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The Jodhpur festival returns after a two-year gap, showcasing rare sub-genres of Indian folk music, with a foreign twist.
The lovely Mehrangarh fort overlooking the blue city of Jodhpur is once again ready to make merry with the music it knows so well: raw Rajasthani folk.
It won’t, however, claim to encompass all, because some of the sounds that will take centrestage are new to the annual Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF) this year. So, expect a spot of Spanish guitar and flamenco, which will mingle with traditional Rajasthani music, and even reggae from Trinidad.
The festival opens this year in October — with extra enthusiasm, since the 2009 edition comes after two years. (Last year the festival was cancelled due to a stampede at a city temple in which close to 250 people were killed.) Music lovers have been waiting eagerly.
With rock musician Mick Jagger and maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur as patrons, the festival remains one of the most sought-after events on the country’s cultural calendar. But perhaps what is worth taking note of this time around is that the emphasis is being placed on the essence of the festival — that is, the folk artistes.
We don’t often remember their names (perhaps at best we recall the region they belong to), but it’s their raw energy — the kind that is easily diluted when folk music is confused with film numbers such as “Neembuda” — that the festival this year hopes to restore.
So there will be four generations of the Langa community of musicians from Barmer on stage together, along with concerts by the living legends of Rajasthan.
At the five-day festival, scheduled for October 1-5, musicians of rare Rajasthani performing art forms, as well as younger musicians who are new to a platform like this, will be the highlights of the event.
“We are already working on the theme for next year, which will bring together the culture of gypsies and the culture of their origins that is Rajasthani,” shares RIFF director, Divya Bhatia.
Well-known vocalist Rekha Bhardwaj will perform with Maand singers Rehana Mirza and Bhanwari Devi, while drummer Sivamani will experiment with beats and rhythm, along with artistes on the nagada, khartal and morchang. A sarangi special with Ustad Sultan Khan and Lakha Khan Manganiyaar is also on the calendar.
An interesting addition at RIFF this year is the launch of an online database of over 200 folk musicians from the state. The website is designed to present to the Web surfer artistes’ photographs, audio and video clips, which can be viewed across the world. The hope is that this will subsequently create work opportunities for the artistes.
Meanwhile, at the venue, you will be able to sit in on intimate concerts — informal gatherings of 20-50 people — which will be informative about rare traditional music forms and their origins.
You can book tickets for the festival online at jodhpurfolkfestival.org from August 18.
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