Barmer Boys

Barmer Boys is an Indian musical group. It is run by Manga, Rais Khan, and Razak Khan from Rajasthan. They belong to the Manganiyar Sufi Muslims community.

Barmer Boys
GenresTraditional, Sufi, Gypsy folk
InstrumentsHarmonium

Morchang Bhapang Khartaal

Dholak
Years active2011–present
LabelsAmarrass Records
MembersManga

Rais Khan

Rajak Khan

History

It formed in 2011 at the Amarrass Desert Music Festival.[1]

The group performed in India, Asia, Europe[2] and North America.[2][3] They have been featured on MTV Coke Studio and released two critically acclaimed albums.

Music

The Barmer Boys blend traditional Sufi and gypsy folk music.[4] Their repertoire encompasses musical traditions from the religious and spiritual communities of the northwest Indian subcontinent region.

The Barmer Boys songbook reflects the influence of the Bhakti-Sufi movement of the 15th century. It takes the form of popular Kabir and Meera bhajans, as well as Sufi kalams. This is evident in tracks such as "Vaari Jaun", "Ranaji" and "Pir Jilani". They include songs that are typically performed at weddings and births in local villages and communities. The band's music incorporates elements such as beatboxing, electronic music, and DJs.

Members

The Barmer Boys is a trio: Manga (vocalist and harmonium), Rais Khan (morchang, khartaal, bhapang and beatboxing), and Razak Khan (dholak). The group has had various percussion players take dholak duties, including Mangu Khan, Tarif Khan, Barkat Khan, and Magada Khan. Manga belongs to Ramsar tehsil in the district of Barmer, Rajasthan. Rais and Rajak are brothers from Harbha village in Fatehgarh tehsil of Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan.

Musician Instrument
Manga Harmonium, vocals
Rais Khan Various percussion instruments – morchang (Jewsharp, jawharp, lamellophone, morsing), bhapang, khartaal, beatboxing
Rajak Khan Dholak

Discography
Album Year Label Notes
At Home 2012 Amarrass Records 4 Stars - Songlines, 4 Stars - Downbeat Magazine[5]
Kesariya Balm 2017 Amarrass Records First folk LP to be made in India in the 21st century[6]

Tours

Barmer Boys have performed on national[7] and international platforms across Asia, Europe and North America. International performances include Roskilde Festival (2014), where they earned the spot between OutKast and the Rolling Stones,[8] Wassermusik, Berlin (2015, 2017), Winnipeg Folk Festival (2015),[9] Ziro Festival of Music (2015, 2017), Music Meeting (2015), Feito A Man (2015), Clockenflap Hong Kong (2015), In2Wild Festival, UK, (2016), Festival 3 Culturas (2017) and Stockholm Cultural Fest (2017).

Notable collaborations

They have shared the stage with artists such as Bombino, Fatoumata Diawara, Vieux Farka Tourè, BaBa ZuLa, Estrella Morente,[1] and Khaled among others. Barmer Boys worked with Bollywood composer Clinton Cerejo on their song "Pir Jilani",[10] featured on MTV Coke Studio Season 3. Rais Khan collaborated with A.R. Rehman for musical recordings for MTV Unplugged in 2017 and featured on recordings by Mumford and Sons.

The group performed with various DJs, presenting a fusion of Sufi Gypsy folk techno with artists such as DJ HVAD (at Distortion Festival in Copenhagen), AudioPervert, Thee J Johanz and DJ Spincycle (Amarrass Records, at Stockholm Culture Festival, Gothenburg Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival,[9] Flaunt@Harbourfront Centre and various events in Delhi).[11]

Barmer Boys is also working on a full-length release and a full-length live performance with Danish post-rock band Himmelrum. The two bands have performed live at various venues in Denmark[12][13] and have released a single on bandcamp, "Nagma-Ranaji" (2018, Amarrass Records).[14]

Reception

The group's first album, At Home (2012, Amarrass Records), single-take field recordings made in the artists home in Barmer, received 4 stars in Songlines[5] and was described by Songlines Editor Simon Broughton as "Incandescent Sufi voices that incite ecstasy". Their second album, Kesariya Balm (2017, Amarrass Records), debuted on the Transglobal World Music Charts Top 40 in 2017.[15] Barmer Boys featured on BBC Asian Network,[16][17][18] BBC Hindi, and BBC World Service programming in 2015 and 2016, NPR Music in 2015,[19] and community radio stations WORT 89.9 FM Madison and WFMU 91.1 FM.

References
  1. "Amarrass Desert Music Festival Returns For The Third Year -". 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  2. Kanal, Nishtha (2018-02-20). "Rajasthani folk comes of age". The Asian Age. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  3. IANS (2014-04-18). "Rajasthani folk music group Barmer Boys touring US". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  4. "Barmer Boys: Nomad Merasi Minstrels | Art & Culture | Emaho Magazine". www.emahomagazine.com. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  5. "Songlines Magazine (October 2014, #103)". Issuu. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  6. "First time in 30 years: an indie group from Delhi is making its own vinyl records". www.hindustantimes.com. 2017-04-29. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  7. "Jazz Like That". The Indian Express. 2014-03-23. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  8. Haridas, Aathira (2019-02-25). "Barmer Boys take folk music to the world". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  9. Thomson, Ian T. D. (2015-03-07). "2015 Winnipeg Folk Festival Lineup Announced". The Manitoban. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  10. "Pir Jalani - Clinton Cerejo feat. Barmer Boys - Coke Studio @ MTV Season 3". www.coca-colacompany.com. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  11. "THE DESERT SESSIONS | Motherland Magazine". Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  12. "Indiske Barmer Boys på Godset". www.jv.dk (in Danish). 2018-05-25. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  13. "Dansk-indisk dobbeltkoncert: To verdener kolliderer på Posten". www.fyens.dk (in Danish). 2018-05-21. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  14. "Nagma > Ranaji, by Barmer Boys + Himmelrum". Barmer Boys. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  15. NuArt (2017-07-05). "TRANSGLOBAL WORLD MUSIC CHART – JÚL 2017". New Model Radio (in Slovak). Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  16. "The Barmer Boys - Asian Network Live Session - The Barmer Boys - Barmer Boys, Noreen Khan - BBC Asian Network". BBC. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  17. "The Barmer Boys - Asian Network Live Session - The Barmer Boys - Barmer Boys, Noreen Khan - BBC Asian Network". BBC. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  18. "BBC - The Barmer Boys - Artists featured in Global Beats: India". BBC. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  19. "Latitudes: The Global Music You Must Hear In June". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
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