Red Baraat

Red Baraat formed as a New York-based ensemble that merges Punjabi rhythms with bhangra funk, jazz, Balkan wedding music, hip-hop, and punk. Dhol player Sunny Jain directs the group, whose brass and percussion lineup produced the 2013 album Shruggy Ji, which ascended to the top of Billboard’s World Albums chart. The band subsequently established itself as an exuberant presence at festivals and venues worldwide while issuing several well-received recordings. After the intense 2018 release Sound the People, Red Baraat maintained an international touring schedule through the 2020s, conveying a consistent theme of joy and unity.

Jain established the ensemble in Brooklyn during 2008. Beyond his role as bandleader, he concentrates on the dhol, a large two-headed hand drum central to Punjabi dance music and nearly ubiquitous in Bollywood soundtracks. His prior project, the Sunny Jain Collective, featured future jazz figures Vijay Iyer, Rudresh Mahanthappa, and Rez Abbasi and specialized in Carnatic jazz, a focus that differed markedly from Red Baraat’s approach. The group’s instrumentation centers on dhol and additional percussion alongside two trumpets—one of them a bass trumpet—trombone, sousaphone, and baritone and soprano saxophones. Their debut recording, Chaal Baby, appeared in 2009 on the independent Sinj label and was followed by extensive national touring that included extended club residencies, a White House performance, and numerous festival appearances. Shruggy Ji arrived in January 2013 and claimed the number-one spot on the Billboard World Albums chart. Gaadi of Truth followed in 2015 and also registered on that chart. During the same year the band delivered a notable set at the United Kingdom edition of Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD Festival. The 2016 EP Livewire documented a KEXP-studio performance in Seattle that added electric guitar and live effects to selected acoustic instruments. Bhangra Pirates, the ensemble’s fourth full-length album, was issued by Rhyme & Reason in 2017. One year later they released Sound the People, a stylistically varied recording that reached the European World Music Chart’s Top Ten.

Entering the following decade, Red Baraat had become a fixture at major festivals including Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, New Orleans Jazz Fest, and the Dubai World Expo, as well as multiple WOMAD events on several continents. The group has also continued to present its own Festival of Colors each year since the early 2010s.