Jodhpur RIFF 2023: Folk artists of the world to sing for the living traditions of roots music

The 14th edition of Rajasthan International Folk Festival will be held at Jodhpur's Mehrangarh Fort during October 26-30.

A star-studded opening act of Kalbeliya singers, khartal and dholak masters, dhol drummers and Neapolitan music offers a glimpse of what to expect from the 14th edition of Rajasthan International Folk Music Festival beginning in Jodhpur on October 26.

Jodhpur RIFF, as the country's foremost international roots music festival is known to music aficionados from across the world, returns with a line-up stronger than last year's when it halted a two-year pandemic-forced absence from the permanent venue at the towering 15th century Mehrangarh Fort in the Blue City.

Festival highlights include Napoli's erstwhile street band Ars Nova Napoli, tropical grooves of Bogota-born Afro-Colombian Nkumba System and Cape Verdean multi-instrumentalist Miroca Paris.

The festival, which discovers its headliners from the remote villages of the desert state and far-flung islands in vast oceans abroad, will present Napoli's erstwhile street band Ars Nova Napoli, tropical grooves of Bogota-born Afro-Colombian Nkumba System, Cape Verdean multi-instrumentalist Miroca Paris known for his presence in Madonna's tours, internationally-acclaimed Tunisian violinist Jasser Haj Youssef and award-winning Australian slide guitarist Jeff Lang among its performers this year.

Khartal player Bundu Khan Langa, an iconic figure in Rajasthan's Langa community of traditional musicians, who was nicknamed Kohinoor by the British Queen, and Bade Ghazi Khan Manganiyar, a Manganiyar maestro and one of the creators of Nimbooda Nimbooda song from the Hindi film, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, lead the Living Legends category of the festival, to be held from October 26 to 30.

Langa and Manganiyar musicians and Kalbeliya singers feature in the country's top annual roots music festival this year.

After her lecture-demonstration at the festival last year attended by young classical dancers and dance enthusiasts from home and abroad, Kalbeliya dancer Asha Sapera returns this year with her Rajasthani gypsy community singers Mohini Devi and Sugna Devi.

The number of women performers in this year's edition is considerably larger. Among them are Rajasthani folk singers Sundar Devi, daughter Ganga Devi and Sumitra Devi, Hindustani vocalist Barnali Chattopadhyay, Sufi singer Smita Bellur, Kathak dancer Tarini Tripathi, dhol players Swarangi Savdekar and Yaminee Khamkar, Estonian flute duo of Kärt Pihlap and Katariina Tirmaste known by their stage name, Kuula Hetke (Listen to the Moment), and a woman DJ, the Colombian ChontaDJ aka Alejandra Gomez, familiar with audiences at the Glastonbury festival in Somerset, England for her captivating traditional and modern South American music.

"Our stages are designed to have different artists from different countries and traditions perform on the same platform," says Jodhpur RIFF festival director Divya Bhatia. "Our audiences want to know other folk traditions as well," he adds.

Jodhpur RIFF festival director Divya Bhatia.

First held in 2007, Jodhpur RIFF today attracts thousands of music enthusiasts from both within and outside the country. Returning after a two-year gap, the festival last year saw its attendance exceeding pre-pandemic levels. "When we started, major music festivals in the country today like NH7, VH1 and Mahindra Kabira Festival didn't exist," says the Mumbai-based Bhatia, an independent arts consultant and producer.

One of the biggest successes of Jodhpur RIFF has been promoting Rajasthani folk musicians within and outside the state as well as abroad, thereby making a positive impact on their livelihood. Many folk musicians from the state are today busy launching collaborations with Indian and foreign musicians from different traditions.

Collaboration is, in fact, a key theme at Jodhpur RIFF this year. Mumbai-based Kathak dancer and cross-fit trainer Tarini Tripathi will join Langa musicians Sadiq Khan, Asin Khan and Zakir Khan -- members of the Rajasthani band SAZ -- in a collaborative work commissioned by Jodhpur RIFF.  "I first saw SAZ live at one of their performances in Mumbai," says Tripathi, daughter of  acclaimed dancer and choreographer Gauri Sharma Tripathi. " An instant connection to the rhythms and melodies of the music created space for a collaboration," she adds.

"The history and lineage backing all the artists brought forward further similarities and common tug points in musical exploration," says Tripathi, whose grandmother is Padma Sharma, a revered name among Kathak exponents. "Tarini's approach to Kathak is not just influenced by the tradition, but also by her understanding of her own body," explains Bhatia.

A curious dhol collaboration between Maharashtrian and Rajasthani drummers will be witnessed in a performance by Maharashtra's Puneri dhol drummers Swarangi Savdekar and Yaminee Khamkar with Rajasthani dhol drummers Chanan Khan, Swaroop Khan and Rasool Khan.

Sufi singer Smita Bellur's performance will be another highlight of the festival. "Being a classically trained (Hindustani) vocalist, I have often found myself in a trance while listening to qawwali," says Bellur, who will be performing traditional darbari qawwali with a focus on Urdu kalaam from the Hyderabad region at Jodhpur RIFF.

Among other highlights this year is the former Neapolitan street band Ars Nova Napoli, which Bhatia discovered at an Italian musical showcase in Napoli in December last year and Cape Verdean musician Miroca Paris, whom he found at the Tallinn Music Week in Estonia in May this year. "Miroca Paris is an incredible percussionist, singer and multi-instrumentalist," says Bhatia. "He has a very authentic flavour of what Cape Verde music is," he adds about the West African island nation, a former Portuguese colony located in the Atlantic Ocean.

Legendary percussionist Vikku Vinayakram will perform with his elder son Selvaganesh, who plays kanjira, younger son Mahesh Vinayakram, grandsons Swaminathan and Guruprasad and granddaughter Guru Priya, a vocalist.