On the longest day of the year, hundreds of musicians came together to illustrate the beauty in creating community through sound.
Every year on the summer solstice, the Make Music New York Festival unites musicians together from all walks of life. This year on June 21, musicians answered an online call to gather at the Brooklyn Public Library and play “100+ BPM,” a piece composed by Red Baraat’s Sunny Jain, according to NPR. In total, 350 music makers — ranging from Brazilian samba drummers to Indian wedding band musicians — showed up on the library’s steps to play together for the first time. The result was an epic sound, encapsulating both unity and diversity, showcased in the video above.
“This is more about community than about sound,” Jain told The Brooklyn Paper of the song’s purpose. Even the song’s name aims to reflect this idea: The title, “100+ BPM”, stands for both “beats per minute” as well as “Brooklyn Public Music,” a term that he coined to illustrate community building.
To create a communal experience through sound, Jain drew from various influences ranging from traditional Bhangra music as well as the New Orleans jazz culture. “Down in New Orleans, everything you do involves music,” he told the source. “There’s certainly a great music community here, but it’s that idea of music spilling into the streets — people following along whether they play or not — that has been in my heart for a while.”
Prior to the concert, Jain told the Brooklyn Paper, “I’ll just be up there, jumping for joy.”
And that’s exactly what we did after hearing the performance.
