Red Baraat Festival of Colors 2016
RED BARAAT FESTIVAL OF COLORS 2016
Featuring Madame Gandhi RAJAS
March 20 - Nectar Lounge, Seattle feat. DJ Prashant (Tix: http://bit.ly/redbaraat)
March 24 - The Sinclair, Boston (Tix: http://bit.ly/1T5hkOb)
March 25 - The Ardmore Music Hall, Philadelphia (Tix: http://bit.ly/1IXRz1H )
March 26 - The Hamilton, Washington, D.C.(Tix: http://ticketf.ly/1PadNgc )
March 27 - The Bowery Ballroom, New York City (Tix: http://bit.ly/1k5ZKNA )
Red Baraat Festival of Colors is a celebration of Holi, a Hindu holiday marked by public gatherings of families, friends, and strangers rejoicing in song, dance, and the exchange of “colors.” The holiday signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, and an opportunity to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive. The 2016 celebration will feature an eclectic mix of musical colors: A full live set by Red Baraat and special guest openers, Madame Gandhi and RAJAS (for all East Coast dates). DJ Prashant will join on the first Festival of Colors out West. Madame Gandhi is an electronic music group featuring the drums and vocals of Kiran Gandhi (drummer for M.I.A.) and the sound design of Alexia Riner. Based out of Los Angeles, this project uses driving rhythms, ambient melodies and soulful vocals to explore concepts of liberation and equality. Rajna Swaminathan leads the ensemble RAJAS, a project that brings together musicians from Indian classical and jazz backgrounds to collectively explore new textural and improvisational horizons. Rajna is an accomplished mrudangam (South Indian percussion) artist and composer. She is a protégé of mrudangam legend Umayalpuram Sivaraman, and is one of only a handful of women mrudangam artists in the world. She has performed with several renowned Indian classical musicians, including mentor and vocalist T.M. Krishna. Over the past few years Rajna has been collaborating with eminent musicians in New York's jazz and creative music scene, including Vijay Iyer and Steve Coleman. Rajna holds degrees in Anthropology and French from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Music at Harvard University. Rajna Swaminathan - mrudangam, compositions, Roopa Mahadevan - vocal, Anjna Swaminathan - violin, Arun Ramamurthy - violin, Guy Mintus - piano (Boston, Philly and NYC shows only).
The festival debuted in 2012 at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City - the event was sold out. It has since expanded and travelled to Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, and New Orleans. Each year, bandleader and dhol player, Sunny Jain curates a night of music and art highlighting the South Asian Diaspora in America through a diverse range of styles and mediums. Past lineups have included DJ Rekha, Falu and her live band (Deep Singh, Dave Sharma, Mark Tewarson, Gaurav Shah), Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi (a film by the late, award-winning filmmaker, Prashant Bhargava, with score by Grammy-nominated composer, Vijay Iyer), Brooklyn Raga Massive All-Stars, Mandeep Sethi, Vandana Jain, Parijat Desai Dance Company, Rupa & The April Fishes, and DJ Ushka.