Kathmandu:

If you don’t know the blues…there’s no point picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music,” — Keith Richards

Everything was perfect for the evening. The cool breeze, the well lit setting, comfortable sitting arrangements, no load shedding, no rain and above all the ensemble of local and international Blues bands. One could not ask for more but just hope that the night last longer. The fourth day of the “Himalayan Blues Festival 2007” at 1905, Kantipath was an event to cherish. The music was foot tapping, which made most of the ladies get in front of the stage and dance.

It was Jocose who did the opening act of the evening. Unlike other evenings this time on the stage Jocose was playing very peppy music and entertaining the audience with his fabulous showmanship. Both locals and foreigners in the crowd enjoyed the music a lot. Next on the line was Danish musician, Dan Klarskov who with his erotic lyrics received lots of cheering from the guys.

Though the sitting arrangement was done under a tent to be prepared for the unpredictable rain, people in the restaurant also seemed to be enjoying the music. Standing on the bridge, watching the ducks wad across the pond and listening to the spellbinding music one could not help drift with the ambience.

But as soon as the Finnish band went up on the stage the whole crowd gathered in the tent to sway to their music. May be it was the environment; even the band members could not stop themselves from jiggling a bit. They were not only enjoying playing the music but were equally enjoying responding as the audience applaud. Then came our very own local blues makers Looza, whose performance was par excellence.

They not only performed the best as usual but also presented the best jam up of the evening with Subha B Sunam on saxophone and Graham on trumpet.

Just the way Charlie Parker said “If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn” they were just not playing the music but also living it. The booming music coming out from the saxophone and trumpet were making perfect harmony with Looza. Soon the lady with the combination of killer looks and distinctive voice not only demanded attention but also was successful in making many blues fans dance. The last band to perform was the Pax Armada along with JL Stiles; the band gave captivating performance. The evening ended with various bands jamming together.