World Music Festival Chicago 2010 gets under way on Tuesday, September 21, with a three-day minifestival called India Calling. Restricted to genres with roots on the subcontinent, the music nonetheless covers a broad range—scheduled performers include masters of Hindustani and Carnatic classical traditions, a funky “dhol ‘n’ brass” outfit descended from Indian wedding bands, and DJs spinning bhangra, Bollywood, and electronic fusion. A variety of nonmusic events—yoga and meditation workshops, Bollywood film screenings, dance performances—celebrate other aspects of Indian culture.
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In addition to the programs listed below, the Chicago Tourism Center (72 E. Randolph) hosts an art exhibit (Tue 9/21, 7-10 PM and Wed-Thu 9/22-9/23, 10 AM-10 PM); on display will be photographs by Steve McCurry (best known for his famous cover portrait of a green-eyed Afghani girl for National Geographic) and paintings by Indian artist Paresh Maity. Across the street at the Chicago Cultural Center, the G.A.R. Hall and Rotunda presents a Rural Artisans Village Marketplace (Tue 9/21, 7-10 PM and Wed-Thu 9/22-9/23, 5-10 PM). In the Cultural Center’s first-floor Garland Room, there will be yoga and meditation classes as well as workshops in kirtan, mantras, and music healing by M. Harre Harren (Wed-Thu 9/22-9/23, 4-6 PM, exact schedule yet to be determined at press time).
Pritzker Pavilion
8 PM DJ DhakFu
7:45 PM Red Baraat Indian brass-band music remains largely unknown in the West, but its furious polyphonic puffing and rollicking grooves are a staple at wedding celebrations on the subcontinent. New York percussionist Sunny Jain, the son of Punjabi immigrants, has an abiding interest in musical hybrids—his recent Taboo (Brooklyn Jazz Underground) is a thoughtful adaption of the ghazal form for jazz quartet—and he formed Red Baraat as an Indian brass band with a distinctly American flavor. The group combines the fizzy, exuberant melodies of bhangra—along with its propulsive dhol drumming—with the second-line funk of a New Orleans funeral, and pulls it off without insulting either tradition. The nonet’s debut album, this year’s Chaal Baby (Sinj), is as smart as it is fun, balancing busy, irresistible beats with high-level horn blowing on both sturdy original songs and bhangra hits by the likes of Daler Mehndi and Malkit Singh. The record is great, but onstage Red Baraat are even better, winding up the crowd with shouts of encouragement and boisterous audience invasions till they’ve turned the show into a dance party. —PM
7:15 PM Kalapriya Dance presents “Natya Lila” featuring Kiran Chouhan, Sonali Mishra, and Pranita Jain
6:35 PM Lyon Leifer and Subhasis Mukherjee
