National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

For the past two years the band Red Baraat has been one of the New York music scene's best-kept secrets. Based on the ubiquitous village brass bands of India's Punjab region, Red Baraat has been creating havoc on dancefloors all over the city, and on the national festival circuit, too.

Led by the eclectic Sunny Jain who is equal parts MC and percussionist (he's a master of the dhol , the iconic, double-sided, barrel-shaped Punjabi drum), Red Baraat features a mighty brass section comprised of trumpet, saxophone, trombone and sousaphone played by an energetic 9-piece band.

Even though Red Baraat performs classic Bollywood numbers and Punjabi folk songs (their version of "Mundian To Bach Ke" is a must-hear), Red Baraat's sound and vision transcends its South Asian inspiration, bringing a universal dancefloor message that needs no translation from Bombay to Brooklyn.

And now the secret is out, with the release of Red Baraat's debut album Chaal Baby on their own independent Sinj Records label.

We recently sat down with Sunny Jain to talk about how it all began...

Nat Geo Music First things first: Describe the music of Red Baraat.

Sunny Jain: I would say Red Baraat serves up intricate melodies that slither like a snake projected by a powerful brass lineup, a la marching band style - including a sousaphone. The drumset and percussion grooves reflect rhythms from around the world but the feel is ultimately rooted in India as the dhol bangs out Punjabi bhangra beats.

What does that sound like?

Something akin to a New Orleans second-line rhythm, but with much more shoulder shrugging and hip-shaking.

Is it true that the band came together for the first time at your wedding?

Yes, Red Baraat, before the band was even named, had its birth on my wedding day, August 27, 2005. In typical North Indian tradition, I had a baraat [wedding processional consisting of singing, dancing and music] that 30 or so of my musician friends brought me in with. Shortly thereafter, I started receiving calls as people heard about there being a marching band in town for Indian weddings. [laughs]

I put a 5-piece band together and we played our first couple of baraats in the summer of 2006. The word spread very quickly after that and since then, we've been playing close to 30 weddings or more a year.

That story sounds very similar to how many European Gypsy bands start out. When did you start to perform in public?

I didn't form what's now known as Red Baraat and take it public until late 2008. I guess it's just been my musical journey that eventually brought me to wanting to put together such a band. I fell in love with the sound of dhol when I started playing it in 2002 and I wanted to lead a band where I wasn't behind the entire band on drumset, but instead up front playing the dhol. As I started thinking of instrumentation, I also knew that I wanted a wide variety of voices and musical personalities to make up the sound of Red Baraat and no electrified instruments.

What's the reception been like so far?

It has been tremendous. It's pretty cool to be able to look out into an audience and to see the different folks we bring together through the common language of music. It's also great that the band and our music lends to great flexibility in being able to perform in a variety of situations, from world music festivals to fashion shows, jazz venues to outdoor social justice rallies, Indian weddings to recently opening up for The Slackers! All of us in Red Baraat just love playing in this band and I think that comes across in our performances, which allows us to connect with such great audiences who in return give us awesome energy.

In addition to paying homage to India and marching bands, there is an improvisational element in your music that has traces of jazz.

After receiving so much feedback of the marching band at my wedding, I started remembering the number one reason why I and so many friends started playing music to begin with: to communicate and connect with people. This important principle can sometimes get lost in playing jazz nowadays, which is the background I am coming from.

Who are your influences?

Each one of us in the band have imprinted our own personal musical experience into the sound of Red Baraat. My original intention with the sound of the band was to bring the instinctual shoulder dancing of bhangra music; develop a sound that blends various musical aesthetics, similar to how Fela Kuti created Afrobeat, but on the Indian tip; and to lead a band that enveloped and projected positive vibes, similar to what I learned playing in The Himalayas under the direction of drum master Kenny Wollesen.

What about the Gypsy influence? It seems like the horns and the party vibe bring out Balkan sounds.

I guess the Gypsy sound is inherently in our music because the Gypsies originated in North India centuries ago. You will find that melismatic, microtonal approach in Indian music, Balkan music, and Middle Eastern music. Then coming from a jazz background, that sound just naturally seeped into our music, specifically the improvisatory element of jazz, but there are a host of other influences entering our music, such as funk, go-go, Brazilian, rock, and more.

I've seen the band several times now, including at smaller clubs, where literally everybody was jumping up and down. What does it take to build that kind of infectious energy?

We aim to bring the party! There's just something about the primal sound of all those acoustic instruments - particularly the dhol - that strikes people at the core. We're also just having such a blast up there as a band and when audiences see and feel that, they feed their energy to us, which just amps us up even more. If I end a performance with my shirt drenched in sweat, I know I gave it my all and didn't hold back at all.