Score Discoveries :
BENDING THE SOUNDSCAPE
SREYOSHI GUHA THAKURTA
Score Discoveries :
The
Big
Other
BENDING THE SOUNDSCAPE
We can only think of big fat weddings and living in caravans when we are first introduced to the term “ gypsy ”. But , it is way beyond that !
This specific label comes from the term “ Egyptian ”, as Egypt was wrongly attributed as the land of origin of the gypsies . However , the term “ gypsy ” is most commonly used to refer to the Romani people and it is now considered a derogatory term . The Romanis have always operated on the fringes of mainstream society , which was one of the major reasons why they were faced with a lot of discrimination .
Evidences have shown that the Romani people have had their roots in India and the Romani language bears a striking resemblance to Hindi . The similarity in music also stems from this . The etymology of the word “ Romani ” can be traced back to Dom , a sub-altern social class in the Indian society who are mostly involved in burial and cremation as their professions .
Owing to social and cultural discrimination they migrated to Europe and travelled all over the continent , settling down in different countries . The prominent clans of the Romani people living in Europe include The Travellers from Scotland , Ireland and Scandinavia , The Gitanos of Spain , the Sinti from Germany , Austria , Poland and Italy , The Kale from the Balkans and The Manouche ( from the Sanskrit word ‘ Manushya ’) of France .
Inspite of having intricate differences in style , owing to geographical influences , Romani music all over the world share the similar temperament . This genre of music was brought into the limelight by Django Reinhardt , Stephane
Grappelli and Quintette du hot club de France in the early 1930s in Paris .
The Big Other , which began as an acoustic instrumental trio ( violin , cello and guitar ) in 2013 , in the heart of Jadavpur University , Kolkata started drawing their musical inspirations from the works of Reinhardt and Grappelli , as is evident from their rendition of Minor Swing for their first ever public performance . Each of the members had different backgrounds in music , starting from Western Classical to Blues to Classic Rock . As the trio expanded gradually to an eight member ensemble , various other influences , such as Hindustani Classical , Folk and Jazz seeped in . Currently , The Big Other plays as a quintet throughout the City of Joy , edging towards revolutionizing the city soundscape .
The band started out playing classical music , swing and film scores , eventually finding their way to Romani music . Recently , their music has matured with time and they have incorporated other styles of dance music in their repertoire of Gypsy Jazz . Their motive is to make their mark in a market saturated with electronic beats with their playful and high-spirited acoustic dance music . Apart from this , they also borrow inspiration from music closer to their roots in Baul and Murshidi traditions , and protest songs in different languages from all over India . The Big Other is probably the only folk band in Kolkata which has recently been granted residency in an upcoming cafe in Kolkata where they have always performed to a full house .
With the grand come back and popularization of Folk music all over the world through the internet , The Big Other is truly a product of their time !
The Score Magazine
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