They\u2019ve been described as \u201ca fiery blend of raucous Indian bhangra and funky New Orleans brass\u201d \u2014 a \u201cBig Band for the world,\u201d playing \u201cBollywood with a go-go beat.\u201d <\/p>\n
Where else but the flavorful melting-pot of millennial Brooklyn could a partyband born in basements and warehouses go forth to take some of the world\u2019s most prestigious concert stages by storm?<\/p>\n
Whether they\u2019re playing Lincoln Center, the Montreal Jazz Festival, or a superheated sold-out club in their native NYC, Red Baraat<\/strong> have made instant converts of listeners who wouldn\u2019t have known Sufi standards from Bhangra Funk five minutes earlier. When the nine-piece party juggernaut comes to Monmouth University <\/strong>on Friday, October 12, they\u2019ll be taking the stage of the Pollak Theatre<\/strong>, a place that\u2019s brought the best in ethnic and world music \u2014 from the historically authentic to the hippest amalgams \u2014 to the doorstep of the New Jersey community.<\/p>\n Fronted by MC Sunny Jain<\/strong> and his driving two-headed dhol<\/em> drum, Red Baraat offers up a big and boisterously infectious sound that mixes saxophones, brass, drums and percussion with raps, traditional Hindi vocals and just about anything else that maintains the energy level and excitement. It\u2019s a delightfully boundary-busting attack that\u2019s been likened to everything from gypsy punks Gogol Bordello to the nationwide marching-band underground.<\/p>\n Coming off a first-ever appearance at the annual Bonnaroo Music & Art Festival, and a Spring 2012 European tour behind their debut studio album Chaal Baby<\/em>, Jain and company have used that momentum to issue a live release (Bootleg Bhangra<\/em>) and get busy on their forthcoming second studio set, tentatively titled Shruggy Ji<\/em>.<\/p>\n Still, the live, real time setting \u2014 whether it\u2019s in an underground club, a church, a Fashion Week runway, a historic hall or a cramped radio studio \u2014 is where Sunny\u2019s crew shines; taking the North Indian bhangra rhythms that have thrilled generations, and infusing them with healthy doses of New York attitude and street-busker savvy. <\/p>\n During the 8 p.m. event, offered as part of the 2012-2013 Performing Arts Series at Monmouth, the band that\u2019s been acclaimed by such media outlets as NPR, Mother Jones, and The New York Times aims to add hundreds of new names to their fanbase \u2014 because to experience Red Baraat in concert is to be taken on a whirlwind tour of some entirely new and already favorite places.<\/p>\n