A mélange of folk music from Sahara to Thar Desert struck a chord together in Delhi at the Amarrass Desert Music Festival at Siri Fort Auditorium. From blues, rock to Sufi music, the two-day extravaganza (November 26-27) united the best music from both lands on one platform. “The show was both musical and a visual treat for music aficionados as it captured the spirit of folk music from Rajasthan as well as Africa. “The music is about sound of being lonely and on your own in a desert. It’s the sound of silence. Though rooted in the same physical environment — the desert, these people live in two different worlds, yet there are similarities in their music, their instruments. We tried to capture that spirit,” says Ravneet Kler, director of the festival.
The evening saw the popular sarangi maestro Lakha Khan from Jodhpur, who played sarangi with son Dhane Khan. His performance was a dedication to Lord Krishna. “It featured the love stories of Radha-Krishna. My playlist included a mix of instrumental pieces on the sarangi and traditional songs from the region. It was a great to share the stage with African singers. I have also performed in London and USA, where audience really enjoyed the Indian folk music,” he shared.
The cross-culture festival also saw artistes from Rajasthani Manganiyar community, celebrating 400 years of music heritage of Indian desert through traditional instruments. While Rais Khan on vocal brought the best of Sufi kalam, Bhungar Khan on khartal, Nihal Khan and Mangey Khan on harmonium and Mangu Khan on dholak wooed the audience with Rajasthani classical beats.
Bringing together the folk music of Africa, Mamadou Sidiki Diabate also known as Madou, a renowned solo kora player mesmerised the audience with traditional Mandinka music from North Mali, which was similar to samba rhythms. “My music is all about desire, love and empower. Music across all boundaries speaks the same language and belongs to same family. I can truly relate to the Indian desert music. I also jammed with Rajasthani artistes and I found the sound of sarangi and dholak quite enchanting and spiritual.”
The crowd swayed to the tunes of Malian musician Vieux Farka Toure from West Africa as he played the fusion of rock, jazz and blues. Toure was also invited to perform at the FIFA 2010 opening ceremony. “One hardly gets to hear African music in Delhi. I’ve stayed in Africa in 12 years and I was craving to dance to Malian beats,” says Malini Singh, a girl from the audience.