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Drums and Horns Descend on Grand Army Plaza for Crowdsourced Live Concert

By Rachel Holliday Smith | June 19, 2014 4:51pm | Updated on June 20, 2014 5:34pm

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Red Baraat wants you to make some noise — specifically, with them this Saturday afternoon at Grand Army Plaza.

That’s where the Bhangra funk band will converge with hundreds of other musicians— including the drumlines of the New York Giants, Knicks and Jets— to play a brand-new piece of music available on the band’s website for anyone to download, learn and play with the group on Saturday.

Any musician or band that plays percussion, wind or horn instruments is welcome to join Red Baraat, who themselves are known for their unusual combination of sounds and instruments.

The group mixes jazz, funk and Bhangra music made by an ensemble of trumpet, trombone, tuba and percussion players, including the band’s frontman, Sunny Jain, who plays a Punjabi drum called a dhol.

Bhangra is a style of music and dance with origins in Punjab, India. Modern Bhangra typically features elements of Western pop. 

Jain wrote the score for Saturday’s event, entitled “100+ BPM,” which he said reflects the band’s mission of spreading “the profusion of joy and pluralism.”

“The title carries a double entendre of tempo for the piece, beat per minute, and community building through music: Brooklyn Public Music,” Jain said on the band’s website.

The event is part of the daylong “Make Music New York” festival in which local musicians, professional or amateur, sign up to give public performances all over the city. NPR Music, a sponsor of the event, commissioned the “100+ BPM” performance, which will be recorded and filmed.

All interested musicians and participants should arrive at Grand Army Plaza in front of the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, warmed up and ready to play, organizers said. To download the score or get more information, visit Make Music New York’s website.