Jodhpur RIFF, one of India’s favourite music festivals, is back with a bang after a two year interval. From the 6th to the 10th of October this year, under 2022’s brightest full moon, Jodhpur’s magnificent Mehrangarh Fort will light up once more to play host to over 250 amazing performers, showcasing the best of Rajasthani, Indian and global roots music, as well as breathtaking collaborations between their creators.

“Folk music is the music of the people, across generations. Jodhpur RIFF’s collaborations, in India as well as in other countries, have grown to evolve into an idiom of sorts for this genre,” said HH Maharaja Gajsingh II of Marwar-Jodhpur, Chief Patron of the festival. “More importantly, Jodhpur RIFF has played a key role in building a focal point for and nurturing this part of the country’s vibrant ecosystem of cultural heritage by providing opportunities, inspiration and livelihood for traditional Rajasthani artists.”

This will be the 13th edition of the festival and mark its 15th year. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic the festival could not take place in the years 2020 and 2021. However, during this time Jodhpur RIFF led a relief effort facilitated by the Mehrangarh Museum Trust which, true to the festival’s spirit, provided food, medical aid and financial support to traditional Rajasthani folk musicians. This year, cognisant of the fact that the pandemic is still around, the festival will have masks and sanitisers available at the venue and encourage their use.

“After a two year hiatus, Jodhpur RIFF’s comeback this year will explore exciting new acts, new genres and new kinds of collaborations,” said Festival Director Divya Bhatia. “Citadels of the Sun’, for instance, is a unique collaboration which began between musicians in Ireland and Jodhpur three years ago, but which ripened online, during the pandemic. This ‘online alliance’ allowed us to explore ways and means of getting artists back on their feet during COVID 19.”

Bhatia adds “Also, for one of our dawn concerts this year we have traditional Khasi musicians. And we will be showcasing ‘indie’ musicians BawariBasanti and Harpreet Singh for the first time.”

Bhatia and Jodhpur RIFF have also been instrumental in the creation of SAZ, a brand new band comprising a trio of ingenious young Rajasthani folk musicians who have rearranged traditional Rajasthani lyrics to relatively more contemporary music as well as written original songs that speak to and popularise the genre among today’s generations.

Some Highlights from Jodhpur RIFF 2022

RIFF Dawns

Apart from music from Rajasthan’s Meghwal community, Shabad and Nirguni Bhajans and Kabir Vani in Madhya Pradesh’s Malwi Folk style, one of this year’s Jodhpur RIFF dawns will be ‘A Khasi Dawn’ with traditional music from Meghalaya.

In Residence

Musical maestros Sawan and Kachara Khan, of the Langa and Manganiyar communities, will — through a mix of performance and conversation — enlighten audience members on the strand of Sufi poetry in Langa and Manganiyar musical traditions, through an interactive session. Sawan Khan — whose ancestors have performed in royal courts — is a versatile genius across folk and sufi genres. He has collaborated with musicians like A. R. Rahman and Clinton Cerejo. Kachara Khan is a living legend of Rajasthani folk.

Dance Bootcamp

Audiences will be able to learn more about traditionalMexican as well as Kalbeliya dance forms from JacielNeri — choreographer and founder of ‘Moving Borders’, a Mexican dance production company — andAshaSapera, a reputed singer, dancer and performer from Rajasthan’s Kalbeliya tribe.

Indie Roots 

While remaining committed to a folk core, Jodhpur RIFF expands its spotlight this year to include in its ambit independent musicians Harpreet Singh — for whom music suggests an opportunity for poetic subversion; he will be rendering Kabir, Bulleh Shah and original soul songs — and Bawari Basanti, who promises to enthral the audience with classical-electronica-indie sounds.

Mainstage

Hebrew and Arabic Soul will meet Acoustic Rock at Jodhpur RIFF, courtesy Riff Cohen. Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Cohen is a singer-songwriter, performer and composer who lives and performs across Israel and Europe. She juggles and experiments with a wide range of genres including French Pop, Avant-Garde, traditional North African music and classic rock. She sings in French, English and Hebrew.

‘Citadels of the Sun’ — a collaboration born out of the many folkloric, musical and historical connections between India and Ireland (two wonderlands that lie seas apart but are more alike than you might at first imagine) — was begun with in-person sessions, in 2019, but continued online because of the pandemic. The act features stellar musicians from Ireland and Rajasthan. During its digital evolution, each side of the collaboration was represented by Marty Coyle and Asin Khan Langa. To be showcased at this year’s festival, this act stands up today as a testament to how technology can change the music-scape, as well as to how well Jodhpur RIFF (which steered this collaboration) is cued into this.

RIFF Rustle

As is customary, a smorgasbord of performers will come together in a grand jam or ‘rustle', during the festival’s grand finale. This year’s rustle will be led by Bombay Brass’s ace saxophonist and producer Rhys Sebastian and drummer Jehangir Jehangir (aka JJ).