May 2010

Red Baraat
Chaal Baby
Sinj

By Bill Milkowski

A side project of jazz/world-music drummer Sunny Jain, Red Baraat is a fun, infectious Brooklyn-based band that deftly blends North Indian bhangra rhythms, rowdy brass-band energy, konokol singing and even rap. Jain plays the double-sided Indian dhol drum and leads the nine-piece ensemble through such danceable numbers as “Punjabi Wedding Song,” “Tunak Tunak Tun,” the slowly insinuating “Arcana,” the raucous throwdown “Hey Jamalo” and the groove-heavy title track (which sounds like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band gone Bollywood). All these invigorating pieces are grounded by heavy-duty sousaphone basslines and abundant percussion, and feature potent free improvising from trombone, soprano and baritone saxophones, trumpet and bass trumpet.