Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu:

Sounds of Africa — an African rhythmic evening… was presented by Hotel Yak & Yeti in association with Upstairs Ideas on March 17 at Yak & Yeti, Durbar Marg.

The star of the evening was Max Lolo who had come all the way from Benin Africa to participate in Kathmandu Jazz Festival 2004. Along with Max was our very own local jazz band Cadenza performing together and the fusion of African rhythm and jazz was indeed splendid. Max informed, “Cadenza are simply great. I want to make everyone happy. It is a big night for me.”Max in the show sang some of his numbers from his first CD ‘Realite’. Some of the songs were — “Mamam” — a track honouring mothers everywhere and “Nouwawe” — for people who feel lost. Max had released ‘Realite’ in 2003 and consists hit single “Assakpedea” which turned him into a celebrity.

Another attraction of the event was unlimited drinks, ranges of snacks and lavish food. The decor too brought everyone close to an African mood. The show didn’t start on time, which was the negative aspect of the evening. Nevertheless, the audience kept themselves busy with drinks and cuisine.

Santosh Bist who was unwilling to tell his office name shared, “Jazz is not very popular in Nepal and the crowd here proves the same. There are more westerners than Nepalis but it is good to see that Cadenza and Max are making an effort to make jazz popular in Nepal. It is nice to see that jazz is slowly becoming popular.” Cost might have been another factor for a poor turn up at the show. Bist said, “The organisers should have made the cost of ticket a bit cheaper so that the Nepalis crowd too would have enjoyed the show.” Seyi a 12-year-old boy from UK studying in British School stated, “I like Jazz. Max and Cadenza are brilliant. They are

very good. I attended 2003 Jazzmandu festival as well and I have already listened to Cadenza last year but this time they seem to be enjoying more performing in the stage.”