Entertainment
Jazzmandu to explore roots, foster improvisation
The week-long 15th edition of Jazzmandu will commence on Oct 12 with a musical event for students at Alliance Française and a concert at Jazz Upstairs, Lazimpat, which will be performed by the Nepali jazz veterans, Cadenza Collective.The week-long 15th edition of Jazzmandu will commence on Oct 12 with a musical event for students at Alliance Française and a concert at Jazz Upstairs, Lazimpat, which will be performed by the Nepali jazz veterans, Cadenza Collective.
This installment of the festival will feature a conglomeration of artist from Thailand, Mali, France, US, Germany, Senegal, Switzerland and Nepal. Speaking about the upcoming Jazz jamboree, festival director Navin Chettri said, “We are very excited to present Kora, a 21 string, lute-bridge-harp instrument, for the first time in Nepal.”
According to Chettri, Kora was the instrument that influenced the early days of Jazz in the United States.
Jazz played a crucial role in the emancipation process of the African-American population in the United States, but since then it has spread in all corners of the globe. The introduction of American Jazz worldwide has allowed Jazz to evolve in adherence to the various instruments and styles in a localised context.
In this year’s festival, along with the taste of music which hearken back to jazz’s carry roots,
the audience will be treated with traditional South Asian instruments such as Tabla and Sarangi with a Jazz blend to it. “Improvisation is critical to musical performances and even the artists, who have come to Nepal for the first time, will let Nepal’s geographical and cultural space influence their music,” Chettri shared with the Post.
The festival will take place in numerous venues around the Valley, with the headlining show—Jazz Bazaar—taking place at Gokarna Forest Resort on Saturday. Further details about the schedule can be found at jazzmandu.org
The festival will conclude on October 18.