Red Baraat’s musical approach almost seems too contrived: Bhangra meets New Orleans brass meets jazz and funk and go-go. But since this Brooklyn nine-piece group formed a little over three years ago, it's made this largely instrumental style work, and garnished a following to show for it. The group includes three percussionists and six horn players, and tonight they're playing an early show at U Street Music Hall. I traded a few emails recently with Sunny Jain, the group's leader and dhol player.

Jain says he formed the group to bring together the various musical cultures that are a part of his life. “Much of my composing centers around my identity as an Indian-American, and music has always served as a bridge to the two cultures that felt so disparate when growing up,” he writes.  “While leading a jazz quartet as a drum set player for the past 10 years, I found myself gravitating towards the dhol drum. In the fall of 2008, the next natural step in my creative process was to start up Red Baraat, with the intention of creating a large, acoustic band that brought a powerful, primal sound."

The dhol is a double-sided barrel-shaped North Indian drum slung over one shoulder. The instrument "is synonymous with Bhangra, the folk and dance music of Punjab,” Jain writes. Brass bands are not just an American thing.  ”Having seen brass bands in the streets of India during childhood visits,” says Jain, “ I wanted to meld these sounds with the American sounds of funk, jazz, go-go—a musical collection reflecting global unity, which is not only found in the make-up of the band, but also in our audiences.”

Red Baraat has released two albums that are each reflective of the times when they were recorded. The songs on the studio-recorded Chaal Baby were largely composed or arranged by Jain, while a subsequent live album, Bootleg Bhangra followed two years of performing. For the band's upcoming sophomore studio record, Shruggy Ji, several members of the band contributed compositions. "The sound of the band has grown tremendously by depth and emotion since our inception, and this next album captures that,” Jain writes.

As a consumer, Jain’s own musical interests go beyond the speedy dhol-and-brass party rhythms of the group.  “I’ve been listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan while running.  The way Sufi numbers unfold creates a meditative space that I lose myself in…which also benefits my exercise time, “ he says. “Otherwise, my playlist shuffles pretty regularly depending upon mood….Deerhoof, Prefuse 73, Nitin Sawhney, Talvin Singh, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, My Pet Dragon, Coltrane.”

Red Baraat performs tonight at 7 p.m. at U Street Music Hall. $15.

... a couple of things contributed to me leaving. I don't think we were on the same page as far as goals, and I feel like communication could have been a lot better. I just felt like it was time to move on. And luckily I was blessed with some major offers as far as bands. Of course in the end I chose RE (Rare Essence).

Cal, who lately has been pushing his rap ghostwriting enterprise, Rhymesolvers Unit, says he sees himself as a "missing piece" for Rare Essence—which is probably more a comment on where RE wants to go, and not where it's been already. (There's video of Cal's first official gig with RE, and an iTunes single.)

So here's this nice new video from DMV rapper Killa Cal, the dude known for freestyling in The WHAT? Band, and it's labeled as an "electronic press kit," which is basically a fancy way of saying "infomercial." So what's he selling? There's an album, right? Nah, not really. Maybe next year. Just lots of mixtapes for now. Is he going on tour or something like that? Nope. Just doing the regular go-gos. Has he got a new band? Nuh-uh. So what is it? At 6:15 he shows off his "Action Pack" condom brand. But he's not really pushing those. So what's up? Ah-ha! The money shot comes about 20 seconds after the rubbers, when he mentions his new company, "Rhymesolvers Unit," which operates in one of hip-hop's oldest sub-industries: ghostwriting. He breaks down his career plan this way: "As far as the songwriting, I feel like you can do that 'til you’re 50. ... You can be 50, 60 years old, if you’re good with your pen and your paper, you can make some money." Of course, if somebody with a giant ego (i.e. the average rapper) is paying you to put words in his mouth, the omertà is as important as the marketability of the raps. As Cal says in another video, "we specialize in confidentiality."

MSG isn't the only P.G. County nightclub that's currently closed—and, apparently, the county didn't even need its new law to keep it that way. On August 4, longtime roots-rock roadhouse the Surf Club (also known as Surf Club Live, and previously Chick Hall's Surf Club), posted this note on its website:

The shows that were scheduled for this weekend at the Surf Club are cancelled and will be rescheduled for a future date. Due to a clerical error on the Surf Club’s liquor license (a box was not checked on the application), the Surf Club is unable to have live band entertainment at the moment. I am happy to be working with the town of Edmonston in an effort to renew the application of our long-standing entertainment license and once again host your favorite Americana roots bands. I am sorry for this inconvenience and the disruption that it causes. I hope to have this matter resolved as quickly as possible.

The club’s problems are more complicated than mere paperwork. Much more.

Back in March on a one-off rap night, a fight broke out at the club, as then reported in The Washington Post and Prince George's Gazette. Security threw the participants out of the club, and later that night, two of the alleged fighters were involved in the shooting death of a third fight participant, Phillip Jared Watson, near the club in the driveway of Kenilworth Auto Tires. The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Homicide Unit has since made two arrests in connection with the homicide. (The club uses Hyattsville in its mailing address, but is actually located in the small town of Edmonston.)

Surf Club was the subject of an Aug. 3 hearing of the county's liquor board, where following testimony from Edmonston officials, the Liquor Board fined the owners James F. Byrum and James D. Byrum $5,000 for disrupting the peace and safety of the town, and not being licensed to host live entertainment. The board concluded that the club, which had five security personnel working that evening, did not call the police promptly when the fight participants were ejected from the building. Town officials earlier had requested the board to revoke the club’s liquor license. As I wrote earlier this year, the club stopped booking live music in 2009, but began trying various live acts and DJs again in August 2010.

As noted in The Gazette, Edmonston officials wrote to the liquor board accusing the Surf  Club of numerous illegal activities; however, those accusations were not addressed at the Aug. 3 hearing, where the club owners said the March incident was the first of its kind in their three and a half years  owning the venue, and that no incidents have occurred in the five months since.

At an Edmonston town council meeting last Monday, four fans of the club's zydeco, blues, and roots-rock offerings spoke about the venue and its unique role in the area keeping alive traditional music. They also noted how safe they've found it through the years, and suggested that they think it is a small business that Edmonston and Prince George’s County should be working with and not trying to close. (I've been to the club a number of times, and have always felt safe.) The club had booked numerous Americana acts through August, including Chicago bluesman Ronnie Baker Brooks (whose Aug. 25 gig has moved to the Silver Spring American Legion). Now, the owners are hoping the liquor board, in reviewing their appeal, will renew their entertainment license so that events scheduled for the end of this month and in September won't have to be canceled, and so that the venerable building, which has hosted live music for decades, can survive.

As for MSG, police told The Washington Post that they did not have a suspect or motive in last week's shooting, but that there has been underage drinking at the club and "countless acts of violence" at the location. Under its former name Le Pearl, the club was fined by the liquor board in January 2010 for a 2009 shooting outside the club. But the Prince George's police and liquor board never took further action under existing laws against the club until the most recent shooting, after which they used the new law. As Prince George's Police officer George Nader told the Post, “[w]hen we had the zoning-code violation, that’s what we chose to go through on.” MSG owner Eric Pickens says he plans to contest the charges. As noted at TBD, Pickens  previously operated Club Neon, a Clinton, Md., teenage club, which he voluntarily closed in 2007 after a fatal shooting outside of that establishment.

Whether the new law will make Prince George's County and its remaining clubs (and streets outside the clubs) safer remains to be seen. Rap, go-go, Latin pop, and dance nights regularly occur in Prince George's County without violent incident, but when nights do attract trouble, they focus increased attention on the venues, attendees, and genres. And security does seem to have increased at some clubs. To get into a recent reggaeton gig in a Hyattsville club, I had to empty my pockets and submit to a pat-down—twice—before entering. But that doesn't guarantee there won't be problems outside, as both the Surf Club and MSG incidents show: The clubs took the blame for violence committed on the street.

One side effect of this is that the Surf Club is hoping to avoid future problems by sticking to genres like roots rock and zydeco that appeal to an older crowd, which it believes are less likely include include troublemakers, in addition to increased security. It's not clear whether that plan will be enough to appease the liquor board and the town of Edmonston. Owing to its history, MSG has an even more difficult road to clearing its name and remaining open.

MUSIC

Dayve Hawk's Memory Tapes plays Red Palace tonight with Pree. You may remember Memory Tapes from such websites as Pitchfork, which lauded Hawk's debut LP Seek Magic as one of the best recordings of 2009; this year's Player Piano on Carpark was not as beloved. 8:30 p.m. $12 at door.

Also on H Street, The Cool Kids stop by Rock & Roll Hotel to promote their second studio album When Fish Ride Bicycles. Violet Says 5 opens. 9 p.m. $18 at door.

Local favs The Caribbean plays the Black Cat's backstage with Little Pink and Flea Market. 8 p.m. $8.

BOOKS

Former defensive lineman Joe Ehrmann discusses his book InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives at Barnes & Noble Downtown. 6:30 p.m. Free.

Bruce Duffy talks semifactual history and Disaster Was My God, his fictionalized take on the life of 19th-century French poet Arthur Rimbaud. 7 p.m. at Politics & Prose. Free.

WONKINESS FOR NON-WONKS

Nuclear policy expert Tad Daley's book Apocalypse Never: Forging the Path to a Nuclear Weapon-Free World is supposed to be a policy-rich book for people who aren't necessarily schooled in policy. Check him out at Busboys & Poets on 14th Street tonight. 6:30 p.m. Free.

For this week's issue, I reported a lengthy oral history of the annual concert series at Fort Reno in Tenleytown. This summer's shows conclude tonight with sets from The Evens and Laughing Man.

For years, Fort Reno regulars have circulated rumors of a ban against go-go (and even hip-hop) at Fort Reno. Certainly, no one seems to recall seeing a go-go band play there. Some believe officials feared go-go bands would bring violent crowds to the park, much like the violent crowds that attended early hardcore shows. A few interviewees weighed in on the subject.

Carleton Ingram, 38, booked Fort Reno 1996-1999, played in The Better Automatic: That ban happened before we took over, or that was the rumor. I didn’t know any go-go bands, but we would’ve given anybody a shot. That’s always the stuff that was more rumor than reality. We had one ska band that was an issue...but even the one problem we had only started there and rolled into the Metro. In the eight years we booked, we only had one problem.

Mike Kanin, 34, booked Fort Reno in the late ’90s, played in The Better Automatic, The No-Gos, Trooper, Black Eyes: I remember when we were booking, we weren’t allowed to book go-go bands. There were legitimate concerns about violence from the cops.

Amanda MacKaye, 41, books Fort Reno, played in The Routineers, Desiderata: [A go-go ban has] always been something that's been heard, but I can't find any paper documentation of it. I'm certainly not opposed to booking go-go. I started testing the water by putting Head-Roc and different hip-hop groups on bills to see if anyone would say anything. I certainly have had my own collection of go-go music to be played between bands. The best I can tell is it was a rumor that got cemented as to what it was, but I have not found any evidence of it. There’s certainly nothing in the permit about that. I mean, you can't do anything inflammatory, like you can't yell fire in a crowded room.

To that end, I will say that I don't get any requests from go-go bands. It’s entirely possible that it's not their scene. Only the sound guy gets paid, and many bands after the fact set up shows and donate the money to Fort Reno. Not everybody who's in a professional band can afford to play for free.

Natasha Stovall, 40, booked Fort Reno in the early ’90s: When I was there, I really wanted to have a go-go show. I wanted to book something like the legendary funk/punk show when Minor Threat played with Trouble Funk. I was definitely interested in having more black bands, but the issue that came up was money. Go-go bands are professional bands, and there are a lot of people in that band. They don’t play for free.

I had this dream of booking Fugazi and this go-go band, I think it was Trouble Funk—it was either Rare Essence or Trouble Funk. I managed to get in touch with their manager...We had a budget then, and I think I had like $500. I could’ve paid them. Then the idea was like we couldn’t pay more than $500, so I said "Look, Ian, I’ll give them $500, and you can play for free since you’re already playing for free." He said, “Why would we play for free if they’re not playing for free?” I mean, it was Fugazi’s home turf.

Ian MacKaye, 49, played in Teen Idles, Minor Threat, Fugazi; plays in The Evens: Starting around 1989, Fugazi never took money for local shows and in fact paid for the P.A. and other production costs for a number of the free outdoor gigs (including augmenting the sound at fort reno shows). We definitely were not inclined to pay other bands to open for us.

Paul Strauss, 47, D.C. shadow senator and former chair of the Neighborhood Planning Council: I don't think [there were any conflicts with go-go bands]. If anything, if there was a complaint it was that we were pretty open. Bands that wanted to get booked could get booked. If there was a neighborhood garage band, they could get booked. I don't remember having a policy against booking anyone. If anything, I asked myself from time to time, "Who let these guys on stage?"

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Sponsored by the ACLU of the Nation's Capital, the third annual event will be part speak-out, part concert. Information tables will be out by 12 p.m.; between 4 and 6 p.m., members of the public are invited to contribute to an open mic; at 6 p.m., a panel of statehood experts will speak, and the concert—with openers Wayna and Uptown XO— will kick off at 7 p.m. An after party is in the works, too.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Economist Richard Florida argues that a high concentration of musicians is not only good for individual neighborhoods, but boosts the economy of entire cities. I wonder if D.C. neighborhoods, by pushing go-go venues to the 'burbs, could actually be depressing, rather than protecting, their property values. After all, go-go is perhaps D.C.'s biggest export after bureaucracy. (On the other hand, a rowdy club down the street does have a way of repelling prospective home buyers.)

In any case, I'll be tuning into the Kojo Nnamdi Show today at 1 p.m., to hear their report on the history of go-go.

(Editor's note: Usually there's a cool graphic to accompany this column. This week, due to some staff shortages and our impending Fall Arts Guide–out next Thursday!–we were unable create such a graphic. All the more reason to keep your eyes peeled for next week's edition.)

Far Out!                                                               Hot Dang!