When The Yard brings a band to Martha’s Vineyard, it’s always a spellbinding show by musicians who, while not universally known, are among the best in the world at what they do. Past concerts by Inuit singer Tanya Tagaq and the all-female mariachi group Flor de Toloache have been highlights of the winter arts scene.
Friday’s appearance by Red Baraat was another musical breakthrough for the Island. Formed in 2008, the band calls its music Brooklyn bhangra, fusing jazz, Indian and hip-hop into a fiercely rollicking and highly danceable sound that packs the halls where they play in New York and on the festival circuit.
By comparison, there was plenty of elbow room at the Chilmark Community Center for the band’s dance party Friday. But the Islanders who turned out were rewarded by a solid two sets of infectiously rhythmic music that kept the dance floor churning.
Red Baraat’s lineup centers on Sonny Jain, who plays the dhol, a double-headed Indian drum struck with straight and curved sticks. With a pedal and stomp box at his feet, he’s the lead guitarist in a band that has no stringed instruments, and he plays with fiery precision.
Sousaphonist John Altieri, who keeps his own sound-processing controls taped to the instrument he wears, provides the bass line and occasional solo.
The band also includes trombonist Raymond Mason, who has backed up Mary J. Blige on the Tonight Show and also plays with the Brooklyn-based Afrobeat band Antibalas; saxophonist Michael Bomwell and trumpeter Sonny Singh, with Chris Eddleton on drum set.
All the musicians except Mr. Eddleton wore white jumpsuits splashed with spring colors — a reference to Holi, the Hindu festival celebrated with colors, which is coming up on March 20-21.
Some who came to listen and dance seemed puzzled at first by the band’s high-energy blast of rapid, interlocking rhythms and jazz-inspired horn sounds. But it didn’t take long for them to find their feet, and for much of the evening the dancers outnumbered the wallflowers who dragged folding chairs in from the lobby so they could sit and watch.
Even when the musicians dipped into the avant-garde now and again — they’re avowed fans of John Coltrane and Miles Davis — dancers kept moving across the floor. Red Baraat had conquered this audience and the band kept playing.
A string of young girls started a conga line. A white-bearded man shuffled happily alone in front of the stage. Parents twirled with their children. Yard concerts are free for youngsters.
On stage, the band was working out as well, sometimes leaping in unison high in the air as they played, Mr. Jain’s drumsticks whirling at either end of the drum.
Red Baraat also invited three Islanders up on stage to show their dance moves, with the audience cheering to vote. Wearing a blue Beatles Yellow Submarine T-shirt, 10-year-old Adagio Esposito received the loudest applause.
By the end of the evening, the fired-up audience was not ready to say goodbye to the band from Brooklyn. Cheers, whoops and whistles mingled with footstomps on the dance floor for more than a minute, until Red Baraat returned for a beat-heavy encore and a final roar of applause.
Catching her breath after being on her feet for the whole show, Suzy Crowley of Aquinnah said it felt liberating to dance to the constantly changing rhythms.
“You find the beat on your own,” she said. “You can do anything, because everything is okay. I had so much fun.”
Red Baraat’s new album is Sound the People. The Yard next presents Bridgman|Packer Dance in Voyeur and Table Bed Mirror on March 9 at the Performing Arts Center.
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