Paddy Fields festival focuses on fusion of folk sounds with world music ticket to write
The government has a knack of keeping itself in the news. Just when you thought it was the last that you had heard of GST, mid-September saw the Council that takes decisions on levies to provide welcome support to indigenous music by not levying indirect taxes on 134 handmade instruments. All this after musicians and vendors alike had protested at the levies of 28 per cent announced on such musical instruments. Previously, several states — those notable for promoting/distributing folk music such as Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Punjab — had levied upto 14.5 per cent value added tax across musical instruments with the indigenous ones attracting upto 5.5 per cent. However, the recent decision now impacts only the socalled Western instruments, i.e. those that do not have Indian roots, which are being treated as luxury items. In all this brouhaha, the curators for Mumbai’s now annual Paddy Fields festival, Turnkey Music and Publishing — headed by industry doyen Atul Churamani — decided to promote the event’s folk and fusion music theme in a unique manner this year by launching two digital albums containing 18 traditional folk songs in total, performed by various artistes, called ‘The Music From Paddy Fields’. The concept is simple and straightforward as some of the traditional folk music genres across the country have been provided a common thread with these compilations featuring several artistes that performed at last year’s Paddy Fields’ inaugural concert, including the likes of Chaar Yaar and Mame Khan. But the focus this time around for the sequel — scheduled on October 7 and 8 at the Mumbai Exhibition Centre and, once again, organised by NESCO — are women in folk and fusion. Hence, two of the focussed artistes on ‘The Music From Paddy Fields’ are performers scheduled to perform this year, Sunita Bhuyan and Tipriti Kharbangar, the latter already having a loyal fan following due to her blues-influenced band, Soulmate. Tipriti tackles “Rong Jyrngam Ka Mariang”, an original song composed by Rudy Wallang, whereas Sunita handles “Porbotey Porbotey”, which is captivating due to her fluid violin playing in time with nature.
This is indeed a fresh initiative to promote Indian folk music by obtaining support of pan-Indian artistes, culminating with the Paddy Fields music festival, which was first started in 2016 by NESCO. Meanwhile, the 18 songs across the two compilations have been placed across popular digital music platforms like iTunes, Gaana, Saavn, Google Play, Wynk, Jio, Idea Music Lounge, all within India, and Spotify, Deezer, Napster, and other international platforms across 243 countries!
The genre of folk and fusion being promoted in Paddy Fields is no doubt an extension of the concept behind World Music Day, an annual event that was introduced in 1992 in France — Fete de la Musique — to commemorate a musical genre which was once commonly referred to as “fusion”, “world music”, “global fusion”, or the more recently-introduced term, “worldbeat”.
Worldbeat arose when mainstream artistes began incorporating world music into their sound. Initially, the most prominent influences came from Africa, West Asia and Latin America, but they now arrive from eastern Asia too, most notably India, encompassing an everwidening range of ethnic diversity that includes Celtic, Afrobeat, mbaqanga, qawwali, rai, samba, flamenco, tango and, of course, elements of Indian folk and classical music. World music remains a thriving genre while continuing to influence today’s growing roster of indie artistes, for example, Algerian-born Mohamed Khelifati, more popularly known as Cheb Mami, whose collaboration with Sting on “Desert Rose”, in 2,000, returned world music into deserved limelight.
Meanwhile, the line-up for Paddy Fields on October 7 is: Sonam Kalra; Susheela Raman; Sunita Bhuyan; and the Nooran Sisters, who I managed to see perform last year. In promoting folk music from Punjab, the Jalandhar-based sibling duo of Jyoti and Sultana — as the Nooran Sisters — performed as if they belonged to another world: haunting vocals, intermittent quick paced hand claps often in unison, animated emotions, and appeared possessed with their musical passion. Effectively, the performance was mesmerising and, undoubtedly, I believe they will remain one of the highlights this year too. Meanwhile, the list of performers for October 8 are: Shubha Mudgal; Kalpana Patowary; Tipriti Kharbangar; and Sona Mohapatra.
It is truly wonderful that less-popular genres are being discovered by a wider audience by being promoted by unique festivals like Paddy Fields. This is the only manner in which folk and fusion can finally begin flowing into the musical mainstream. The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years. He continues to pursue his hobby and earns an income out of it.