Mashup: Fuse the music
By Jo Phillips
In present times, it is becoming more and more common to fuse cultures and music, individuals are embracing the forward movement of society and are experimenting more with music and culture as well as keeping their own traditions. This September, Darbar festival is here to allow Londoners to explore and connect with traditional Indian classical music. An exciting collaboration will take place, where Western and Indian classical musicians will meet and perform alongside each other in harmony. Niladri Kumar, Rakesh Chaurasia and Jayanthi Kumaresh, will perform with Matthew Barley and the Philharmonia Orchestra to fuse two genres together.
The Darbar Festival will be from the 16th – 18th September. You can find out more about the Darbar Festival 2016 here, but in the meantime in celebration of the fusion of music genres, we thought we’d give you a selection of artists that mix genres together to create a statement sound…
Djmawi Africa : This band plays traditional music like Chaabi and Gnaoua, and fuse it with Rock and Reggae to create a signature blend of sounds. You can find out more about them here.
Taylor McFerrin is known as a Jazz fusionist, his music incorporates electronica and smooth, slow rap with Jazz to create a soft, harmonic blend of genres.
Brown Cow & Arpan joined the revolutionary musical movement of fusing electronic dance music with traditional bhangra. Although blending the two genres may seem unusual, the upbeat tempo of Bhangra music fits the style of electronic music perfectly. The above video is their first single called Start Up Yet, featuring Shi Wisdom.
The Suffers is a 10-piece band formed of artists from many different musical backgrounds , from reggae to punk. There music fuses numerous genres and creates an energetic sound that all of the band members can relate too. The founder, Adam Castaneda, played in three bands before founding The Suffers: A Latino-ska band, a country band and a hip-hop band, representing the diversity of his musical background.