The Rajasthan region in northwest India has long been known for its rich visual culture and traveling musicians. Rajasthan is also frequently cited as the primary source of Roma migrations to Europe. So it's not surprising that Musafir, a band that mixes the disciplines of Indian classical traditions, tribal dance and Sufi singing, bills itself as "The Gypsies of Rajasthan."

"Many words coming from Rajasthan are found in Romany [language]," says group leader Hameed Khan. This extends to musical elements as well, he says: "Specifically, the voices and sometimes the dance."

As to what audiences can expect from a band close to the source, Khan waxes poetic: "A turban with seven colors ... castanets ... the power of the Thar [Great Indian] Desert."

Musafir's manager, Marie-Noelle Jaffre, is a bit more prosaic in discussing the band's musical roots. "Musafir means 'traveler' in the Urdu language," she says. "Most of the group belong to a very ancient tradition of wandering artists who went from village to village, and even to the royal courts, to amuse and surprise with their daring acts.

"Particularly the Sapera-Kalbelya community [better known as snake charmers] are nomads from the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. They belong to the most ancient gypsy tradition, from which all bohemians originate. They live with snakes, the guardians of spiritual truth, performing devotional dances whose contortions evoke the movement of a dancing cobra."

Western viewers may have already seen the Sapera-Kalbelya in action. They were the women who provided the sensuous dance sequence at the beginning of Tony Gatlif's acclaimed documentary Latcho Drom, which traced the Romany trail from India to Europe.

Musafir's colorful Rajasthani twist to music generally associated with India and Pakistan is often performed with both Sapera dancers and Fakir acrobats. When the band's Sapera dancer Rekha takes the stage, Khan promises, "You will see the real gypsy feelings that you also see in Europe's gypsy dance."

On Musafir's most recent recording, Baarsat (on the German Blue Flame label), you can almost see the see the acrobats and dancers jumping from the tracks, as harmonious voices swirl and castanets lend dancing snaps to melodic tabla rhythms. There is a devotional edge to this music that tugs at the soul as well as the body. Musafir draws from the mystical music of two of the world's great religions, Islam and Hinduism. This is all blended in a manner emblematic of Rajasthan, where centuries of musical harmony have welded Islamic and Hindu influences while embracing communities that predate these civilizations by millennia.

Still, the music has resonance for contemporary European ears. "When [Roma] see us in concert, they say, 'We are brothers. We have the same blood, but we migrated several thousands of years ago,'" says Khan. "With smiling eyes they say, 'In our heart we are the same.' And then sometimes we make music together."