Album Notes

Following the success of their first album, ‘The Manganiyar Seduction’, Amarrass Records releases two classic Rajasthani folk albums, ‘Mitha Bol’ (AMAR002, released Sep. 2011) and ‘Banko Ghodo’ (AMAR003, released Feb 7 2012), from their pioneering field recordings project. Banko Ghodo includes the last recordings by the late Rukma Bai—the legendary Manganiyar vocalist who passes away in July.

For us, 'Banko Ghodo' (majestic horse) and ‘Mitha Bol’ (sweet verse) have been a labour of love. In December last, after our hugely successful Manganiyar Seduction show at Purana Qila, we embarked on a series of ambitious journeys into the western-most parts of India. Fascinated by the music of the Manganiyars, a 400-year-old community of Muslim musicians, we criss-crossed Rajasthan to look for the finest among them. We wanted to research and document their rich musical heritage, and most of all, we wanted to record their music in its purest form: with traditional instruments – all in one take and acoustic.

That these recordings were made in the homes of the musicians or in their natural surroundings, shows in the ease and freedom of the performances. The album has an unmistakable fidelity of both character and sound. The analog setup we used helped immensely in remaining faithful to this. We found such formidable talent during our first trip, we made two more, notably one in April 2011. By the end, we had recorded more than 50 musicians and had over 1400 minutes of tape. After countless hours spent holed up in the studio digitizing, editing, mixing and mastering, we were ready with a set of field recordings that present the finest and purest in Rajasthani folk.

Our sense of urgency to capture, preserve and present this music has been reinforced by the recent news of the passing of Rukma Bai who we recorded in December 2010. Afflicted with polio at an early age, Rukma Bai challenged odds at every stage in her life. One of the few female Manganiyar singers (and unarguably one of the best) she died aged just 50 due to poverty-induced illness and lack of access to basic healthcare.