The Kathmandu Jazz Festival or Jazzmandu is an annual

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

, organised by Upstairs Ideas in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. The festival's name is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of jazz and Kathmandu.

History

The first Jazzmandu was held in , building upon the success of the first 'Jazz at Patan' event the previous year. The festival's first edition included performances by the renowned Australian jazz and swing musician Don Burrows, UK singer Natalie Williams, and Australian Jazz/Funk outfit Afro Dizzi Act, who have since returned to Jazzmandu on several occasions. Jazzmandu has built on its starting momentum to grow into an internationally recognized, week-long festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2012. It has featured such renowned artists as legendary Indian percussionist

Trilok Gurtu Trilok Gurtu (born 30 October 1951) is an Indian percussionist and composer whose work has blended the music of India with jazz fusion and world music. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinu ...

, and American jazz drummer Ari Hoenig. Jazzmandu 2007 was cancelled due to political unrest and civil conflict in Nepal.

Jazz education in Nepal

Jazzmandu actively promotes music education in Nepal, organizing band competitions, workshops and master classes for young local musicians., and working closely with the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory.

Jazzmandu 2012

Jazzmandu 2012 will run from November 1 to 7 and will feature American drummer Tito Puente, Jr., and Thai ensemble Rootman, among others.

References

{{reflist Jazz festivals in Nepal 2002 establishments in Nepal