Paddy Fields is back for a third season with another cracking concept that explores the traditions of Indian music and addresses an age old question….did Indian classical music have its origins in folk music?

Today folk and classical music are two distinct genres of course but was this always the case? The simple distinction between the two is that folk is a free flowing form with no rules while classical music follows certain patterns of melody and rhythm. Another distinction is that folk is a popular kind of music, created to entertain, replete with stories from folklore. Classical music on the other hand, is believed to be for a certain ‘class’ of people that developed under the patronage of kings.

Yet, for classical music to have developed, it must have developed from another form of music. So we did a little asking, delved a little and educated ourselves about Samagana, Jatigana, Deshi and Margi music, Persian influences on Indian music and how Dhruvapad led to the Dhrupad form of singing. We heard fascinating stories about instruments like the iktara and dotara being the precursor to the sitar and how the tabla developed from the dholak!!

It all made for an obviously fascinating and exciting concept for Paddy Fields 2018. Jugalbandi:The Classicism Of Folk Fusion. This is where the structured meets the free form, where stories are told in raga and where musical boundaries are pushed and walls broken down. An experience of a lifetime for both the audience and some of the performers as well! All packaged to ensure two evenings of sheer entertainment, with perhaps a bit of education of our great musical traditions thrown in!

The Artist line up for this year is The Manganiyar Classroom,Amit Trivedi, Shujaat Khan & Malini Awasthi,Rahul Sharma & Gulzar Ganie,Deepa Nair Rasiya, Shantanu Moitra, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt & Anwar Khan, Viva La Goa led by Merlin D’Souza.