Raya Brass Band
Raya brings Balkan dance party mayhem to Lotus from its Brooklyn home base. With the essentials of drums, tuba, sax, trumpet, and accordion, the compact six-member band kicks out a bold, big noise reminiscent of the Balkans, New Orleans brass, and even punk . As comfortable in the throng of a street jam as they are on stage, they keep the intricacy and authority of tradition – mixed up with a funky, urban vibe. Look for Raya on Kirkwood Saturday night, when they bring their irreverent brass-band madness to this year’s Lotus street procession. “This Brooklyn collective gleefully upends traditional wedding music of the Balkans and Greece, undercutting regional reeds and brass with decidedly American funk pulse” (New York Times).
Presented in partnership with the Indiana University Auditorium.
Festival Parade, Saturday, September 30