Red Baraat

Start with the dhol: a two-headed drum whose booming pulse has long helped animate Punjabi celebrations. Put it in the hands of Sunny Jain, surround it with a roaring brass section, and let Brooklyn’s funk, jazz, hip-hop and punk traditions into the conversation. That is the sound of Red Baraat, a band built for the moment when listening turns into dancing and strangers begin moving together.

Jain founded Red Baraat in New York with a simple but expansive musical idea. The driving rhythms of bhangra, music inseparable from celebration in Punjabi communities, could meet the swagger of a street brass band without either losing its character. Horns shout back at the drum. The beat gathers speed. A tune might carry the spirit of a wedding procession, the syncopation of funk and the unruly charge of a rock show, sometimes all at once.

That sound has carried Red Baraat from Brooklyn clubs to Bonnaroo, New Orleans Jazz Fest and Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD festivals, and onto NPR’s Tiny Desk stage. Their 2025 album Bhangra Rangeela keeps the celebration moving. NPR has called them “The best party band in years,” while The Wall Street Journal described them as “A Big Band for the World.”

But for Jain, the party has a purpose. His music makes space for people with different histories, languages and musical tastes to find something together. You do not need to know bhangra, or even arrive planning to dance. Just follow the dhol and see where the night takes you.