Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu:

The Kathmandu Jazz Festival moved to Gokarna Resort as Jazz Bazaar on March 12. The event is organised by Upstairs Ideas with The Himalayan Times.

Indeed many Jazz lovers and listeners showed up at the bazaar. The show was a blend of cultural folk, classical and jazz music but the audience was treated to the blues as well.

The first performing band was the Urban Connection. Their self-composed music was presented with freshness and their expression was energetic, groovy and tight. SimakDialogue from Indonesia blended the electronic and acoustic music next.

Soulmate from Shillong, India, succeeded to add a touch of blues to Jazzmandu and were able to tempt people to dance.

Prustaar, the Nepali band, played a fusion of folk and classical music. Gandharva added a traditional touch with their sarangis and classical ragas. Cadenza incorporated folk music to jazz to give a different dimension to classical folk in Nepal. They also performed with Peter Kroultil and presented acid jazz, be-bop and Latin jazz. Max Lolo from Benin Africa performed African rhythms and jazz.

The musicians from different places of the world and our own native musicians entertained the listeners till late in the night. Nepali exotic dances such as Jhaki dance also kept all entertained.

The audience enjoyed all performances but the one who stole the show was our very own Cadenza and the Norwegian three-men band — Urban Connection. Keith Gardner, Australian Ambassador to Nepal, said: “The Jazzmandu is simply fantastic. It is awesome and I should say that it should be continued. I like Cadenza the most.”