The Kathmandu Jazz Festival, or popularly known as “Jazzmandu,” is an annual event organized by Upstairs Ideas Pvt. Ltd. primarily by Chhedup Bomzan of The Upstairs Jazz Bar, and Navin Chettri, drummer and vocalist for The Cadenza Collective. This year marks the Kathmandu Jazz Festival's sixth-year anniversary! The festival has grown and improved greatly over the years and we hope to continue its progress and make the festival even better.
Over the past 5 years, the Kathmandu Jazz Festival has been successful at promoting Jazz in Nepal and bringing world-class musicians to audiences in Kathmandu and Pokhara. With the festival, young and old alike are given the opportunity to experience jazz music-– it enriches lives and pushes the limits and boundaries of our musical expectations. It promotes creativity, encourages the sharing of international sounds and ideas, and nurtures the talents of Nepali musicians. Jazzmandu strives to make the music accessible to as many people as possible and actively works to include free shows, educational school programs, and workshops, as well as low-cost shows to attract the general public and those who may not be able to attend the larger shows. For 2008, we plan to sponsor even more of these events to meet this goal. The following are highlights of our past accomplishments and our goals for the future of the festival:
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JAZZMANDU FOR CULTURAL INTERACTION
Cultural interaction among people of different nations can take many forms, and the Kathmandu Jazz Festival is one exceptional and unique way to bring together the diverse talents and energies of musicians. In the past, we have invited musicians from United States of America, Canada, Holland, England, Benin, Norway, Germany, Australia, Israel, Indonesia, Pakistan, and India. The festival has show-cased such world class musicians as Trilok Gurtu, Don Burrows, Jesse Van Ruller, Louis Banks, The Latin Jazz Allstars, Natalie Williams, Urban Connection, Solid, Max Lolo, Simak Dialog, , Hilde Marie, Andreas Hessen Schei, Remi Abram, the T.R Dhandapany ensemble, Judy Lewis, Francois Carrier, David Burgos, Andy Grosskopf and many others.
These musicians have all had positive experiences in Nepal, and are often eager to spread the word to other musicians about the festival and Nepal itself---many have requested to come and perform again! The cultural interaction has a boundless impact and influence on everyone involved: musicians, volunteers, fans, students, audiences, and the country as a whole. We are excited to bring this positive cultural interaction to more people, and we are constantly searching for new ideas on how we can make the 6th Kathmandu Jazz Festival even more interactive.
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JAZZMANDU FOR PROMOTING TOURISM IN NEPAL
The Kathmandu Jazz Festival has proven its ability to increase the number of tourists flying to Nepal; both during the festival and otherwise. The festival helps erase misconceptions about Nepal and shows tourists that it is safe and fun to travel to/around Nepal! The festival also shows that Nepal has much to offer to a variety of people with diverse interests, tastes, and budgets---including music fans. The festival exposes many to the warmth and hospitality of the Nepali people, the cultural and religious treasures, and the awe-inspiring natural beauty. All this combined with a world class music festival that promotes not only the country’s traditional music, but sounds from other countries helps to bring Nepal to the attention of communities that might not otherwise be aware of all that Nepal has to offer.
Furthermore, as a sign of faith in our mission to put Kathmandu on the International Jazz Circuit, the Nepal Tourism Board has joined us again in 2008 as promoter for the festival. This type of support from Nepal is paramount in preserving and furthering the future of festival gives us more opportunities to promote Nepal through Jazzmandu.
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JAZZMANDU FOR MUSIC EDUCATION
Jazz for School Students
The festival has organized free educational music programs for school students around Kathmandu every year. We invite students from different schools to experience live and interactive performances of jazz performed by some of the world’s top musicians. This is a great opportunity for Nepali students to see artists from different parts of the world---an opportunity most of them would otherwise never experience. We are proud of these efforts as we are confident that the education of the youth will have a strong and lasting impact on the people of Nepal, and we hope to contribute more to music education this year.
Clinics and Workshops
Besides performances by the visiting musicians during the festival, numerous workshops and clinics are organized for local musicians so that they can learn from the visiting musicians. Over the years we have held many general workshops for both musicians and fans to learn more about jazz in general and to share ideas with visiting musicians.
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JAZZMANDU MUSIC FOR PEACE
Peace: Our most important goal, it is the need of the hour not only in Nepal, but all over the world. Keeping in mind our theme of Peace through Music, we annually organize the Jazzmandu Peace Parade in Lazimpat during the festival. Music has always been a medium through which the message of peace can be spread to a large and diverse audience. The parade is a celebration of diversity and over the years has included international musicians, Nepali musicians and traditional dancers, Buddhist monks chanting prayers, school students, and countless music fans and supporters of peace. For the musicians, the parade is a wonderful way to contribute their voices and sounds to increasing peace in the world. Plans for the 2008 festival parade will ensure a more artistic, visually exciting, and colorful parade with a chance for interaction between musicians, organizers, the general public and school children as well.
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