:: Jazzmandu 2004 ::

After the big success of the "Jazz at Patan" concert in October 2001, the idea of doing more to spread jazz in Nepal was on the mind of Navin Chettri, the drummer of Cadenza. The band Cadenza has made an impact with the fusion of jazz and Nepali Classical music on people in Nepal. One of Cadenza's biggest fans (and presently a big supporter of the festival) is Suman Sachdev, who runs the Gokarna Golf Resort. He invited Cadenza to play at the Gokarna

Resort for Shivaratri. Navin suggested to Suman that they invite other bands to join them at Gokarna, get some sponsors, and eventually have a jazz festival. Suman agreed immediately, and the idea was then put forward to Chhedup (owner of Upstairs Jazz Bar) and Susan. These three (Chhedup, Susan and Navin) formed a team to run the festival under "Upstairs Ideas", Chhedup's event management company. All the supporters of the festival started offering help and came up with solutions to the worries that the

management company thought would hinder the festival. Mr. Prabin Pandey, Executive Director of the Shangri - La Hotel, thought that it was a great concept and offered to put up the visiting musicians in the hotel. Vidhea Shrestha, Director, Passage Project came forward to help with planning and advise. Singapore Airlines offered to fly the musicians for free. Nepal Tourism proved fruitful and the festival started to be seen as a dream, which could be fulfilled.

An event of this magnitude has never been undertaken in Nepal. The promoter's mission is to put Kathmandu on the international jazz circuit. Jazzmandu will give people another reason to come to Nepal. In 10 years time Jazzmandu may become as famous as the Montreal Jazz Festival or the North Sea Jazz Festival; both attract thousands of tourists each year. Jazzmandu has become an annual event producing great jazz and promoting the uniqueness of Nepal.

The first festival was held in March 2002, and was a great success. In its first year, The Kathmandu Jazz Festival gained a reputation for high quality jazz, sound and performances. This is because we put music as the top priority. We imported technical sound equipment from Bangkok, flew a sound engineer from Bombay and spared no expense on the quality of music. In the first year we flew three internationa bandsl and Mr. Don Burrows, Australia's leading jazz musician who is described as a 'National Living Treasure', to Nepal for the Supper Club event. This set the reputation of the festival in terms of its ability to attract stars and 'masters'.

Over 2,500 people attended the second annual Kathmandu Jazz Festival in March 2003. The festival generated a great deal of interest including 40 newspaper articles, radio interviews and over 9,500 hits on the website. The event was included in the Destination Nepal Campaign as one of the major

national events on the Nepali calendar. We flew a sound engineer from Australia to improve the sound quality of the music and eight international bands from all over the world. We also flew Trilok Gurtu (master percussionist), Afro Dizzi Act (the favourite band from the

previous year) and Jesse van Ruller (leading European jazz guitarist). By continuing the emphasis on quality sounds and experienced musicians, a buzz was created in Kathmandu and around the world, bringing attention to the festival and its sponsors.

For the third annual Kathmandu Jazz Festival, 2004, we have six international bands and three local bands. Louis Banks Brotherhood is the headliner for the event and is coming from Mumbai, India to Nepal for the first time in 13 years. The other international bands are Urban Connection from Norway, Simak Dialog from Indonesia, Hannah Vasanth Trio from England, Max Lolo from Benin, Africa, and Soul Mate from Shillong, India.
This year we are organizing a free show for school students with the help of SEBS (Society of Ex-Budhanilkantha Students) for the younger generation. We have invited students from different schools to experience live jazz performed by some of the world's top-notch jazz musicians. This will be a great opportunity for Nepali students to see artists from different parts of the world perform live.

	The Idea of Kathmandu Jazz Festival was virtually formed in Townsville, Australia when Cadenza was invited to play at the Palmer Street Jazz Festival in June 2000 by Mr. Neal Sellers. The trip to Australia made a very big impact on Cadenza and Chhedup. The whole scene in Townsville inspired them to just think about having an event like that in Nepal. Coming back to Kathmandu Cadenza worked on organizing its first self produced concert "Jazz at Patan" which became a huge success. "Jazz at Patan" was almost a proof to everybody that a Jazz Festival could be held in Nepal.

	Keeping in mind our theme of "Music for Peace in the World", there will be a Jazzmandu Peace Parade in Lazimpat during the 2-week festival. The parade will include international musicians,				Nepali musicians and traditional dancers, Buddhist monks chanting peace prayers, and vintage bikes and cars.

	Archive