From club nights at a hotel to sunset performances overlooking the old city, the eighth edition of the Jodhpur RIFF, held between October 23 and 27 at Jodhpur’s majestic Mehrangarh fort, attempted to curate not just the music but an entire ‘experience’ for visitors. We take a quick look at some of the hits and misses from the folk music festival this year.
1. A Live Jam can be a Wondrous Thing
Watching musicians jam on stage – jugalbandi – and play off of each other can be a thing of wonder. It’s a peek, almost voyeuristic, into the active creation of art; the whole process is a delight when you can feel something meaningful take shape and come to life right in front of you. Jodhpur RIFF does something wonderful – in that it puts together musicians from diverse cultural traditions on the same stage and lets them figure out a way to make sense of the contrasting approaches to music.
2. Sometimes it Works Out...
Sometimes it works out – like it did this year with Yossi Fine, the obscenely gifted Israeli bass player who provided a rhythmic, pulsating spine to the Manganiyars of Rajasthan (although the idea was probably more interesting than the execution).
Fine is a musician with the rare gift of knowing when not to play – when to tone down and back off – and that quality allowed him to elevate the songs instead of simply showing off his considerable chops.
3. Sometimes it Absolutely Doesn’t
Sometimes, though, it absolutely does not work out. This year, RIFF was held between October 23 and 27, and the annual highlight of the festival – the RIFF Rustle – put together a shit load of musicians who’d performed at the festival. The end result? A maelstrom of pointless digressions and absolute disarray.
Yossi Fine curated the whole thing, and did what he could to salvage it, but the entire set – featuring heavyweights like singer Mahesh Vinayakram, saxophonist Brian Molley, reggae specialist Papa Julius, the Manganiyars, Finnish fiddlers Emilia Lajunen and Suvi Oskala, and a host of others – just never seemed to kick into gear.
4. Aesthetics Matter
It would be a grave oversight to not mention, at this point, that RIFF takes place inside the daunting 15th century Mehrangarh Fort, with Maharaja Gaj Singh as its chief patron. (Rock ‘n’ roll dinosaur Mick Jagger is another patron.) From a purely aesthetic perspective, the architecture of the fort and neighbouring venues that host the performances add a whole new dimension to the music.
At Rs 10,000 for a full festival ticket, it’s obviously not cheap, but there are events, performances, film screenings, workshops taking place almost round the clock, so attendees – if they plan properly – can get their money’s worth.
5. Wouter Kellerman was a Mixed Bag
South African Grammy-winning flautist and composer Wouter Kellerman performed at the main stage on October 25, fronting a collaboration between his band and Rajasthani musicians. It started off on a dreadfully dreary note, but eventually the musicians became more comfortable with each other as the set developed. It was solid, if not quite mind-blowing.
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Kellerman’s best, however, was reserved for the RIFF Dawn session the next morning, featuring a collaboration with Dilshad Khan and Mahesh Vinayakram. Held at the neighbouring Jaswant Thada cenotaph, the RIFF Dawn sessions are quite something: the music, played gently at low volumes, provides the soundtrack for night making way for day, starting in pitch darkness and culminating in bright, piercing rays of optimism, joy, and sunshine.
6. A Locale Can Make Music Surreal
There was also the one-off Desert Lounge session, featuring traditional Rajasthani musicians like Bhanvari Devi. It took place on the Sunday, past midnight after events at the fort were wrapped up. The location, one found, was a mini-oasis, with tea, snacks and a patient audience watching on.
A few lights illuminated the makeshift stage, and the musicians played an entirely acoustic set, with the fort forming a beautiful backdrop. It was surreal – like an inside joke that everyone was in on, nodding to the magnetic quality of the music.
7. A Good Singer Can Best a Bad Throat
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Sumitran Devi, known for her exquisite bhajan and jagran renditions, performed at the Old Zenana Courtyard (the main stage). Now this is pure hearsay – but apparently her voice was off on that night because of a bad throat. If that were true, it didn’t affect her deeply moving performance one bit. This writer has found that sometimes, the passion and honesty with which an artist works can circumvent any external obstacles.
8. ‘Main Hoon Don’ Will Always Draw Cheers
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Delhi’s reggae/ska band the Ska Vengers played a thrilling set to an audience that probably wasn’t familiar with their work. That didn’t stop them from getting a great response. The addition of Kishore Sodha on the trumpet lends a welcome new intensity. As an (important) aside, Sodha has a very familiar trumpet sound that most of us grew up with – he has played on countless RD Burman songs.
Sodha was also a part of the RIFF Rustle collaboration, and he garnered the maximum number of cheers (and even a sing-along) when he broke into ‘Main Hoon Don’ from Don. It was fascinating. Then he did it again. Then he started off with ‘Dum Maaro Dum’. We simply pretended the latter two didn’t happen.
(Akhil Sood is a New Delhi-based freelance music and culture writer with an undiagnosed fear of tomato sauce.)
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