All My Friends jazz up their winning dreams

KATHMANDU : The Jazz for the New Generation, a band competition among three local Jazz bands of Nepal, marked the first day of the five-day Kathmandu Jazz Festival, also dubbed The Surya Nepal Jazzmandu 2011. The reason behind organizing the competition, according to the organizers, is to “encourage and acknowledge upcoming jazz musicians in Nepal.”  In its ninth year, the competition is taking place after a gap of five years. Answering to the reason behind the long gap, Samir Chettri, media coordinator, shared, “Earlier, we didn’t have that many bands willing to participate. However, that scene has changed considerably over the years. Looking at the responses shown by participants, the competition will be a regular feature in the event.” After a rigorous preliminary round held on October 17, three bands – KJC Quartet, All My Friends, and the KJC Power Trio – made it to the finals held at Moksh, Jhamsikhel, on Friday, October 20. All three acts performed three musical pieces each and were judged by ‘bconnected,’ a Swiss band founded by guitarist Eugene Montenero in 1994. According to the organizers, the bands were evaluated on the basis of their musicality, dexterity and technical abilities on their instruments, improvisation skills, and musical interaction with fellow band members, originality, and stylistic representation of the music. Judging from the crowd’s reactions, the favorites, All My Friends, were handed the title of “The Outstanding Band.” The group comprises Ian Eustis on double bass, Kiran Shahi on drums, and Abhishek Bhadra on keys, who also bagged the award of “The Outstanding Artist.” Excited about the win, Bhadra shared that he was extremely happy yet surprised. “Everyone saw how well the other bands had performed. Nobody were any less. The decision must’ve been a very close one,” he said. Bhadra revealed that the band had an interesting story behind their participation in the competition. “Actually we only wanted to perform at the event. But since all the slots were taken, we decided to participate in the competition,” he shared, adding that the chance paid off. The winning band gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform at the Jazz Bazaar at Gokarna Forest Resort on October 22 alongside some of the biggest international acts from the Jazz circuit. Scheduled to perform at Gokarna ‘bconnected’ were all praises about the performance of Nepali bands. Montenero said that the bands played wonderfully and it was a tough decision choosing a single band as the winner. “I was surprised. All three performed amazingly well,” he said. Dominiuque Favre, also a fellow band member, shared he was enjoying his time at Jazzmandu and the competition was a right start to the festival. He shared that he is looking forward to the Jazz at Patan event on Monday. “We’re sharing the stage with Nepali acts with instruments like tabla. The fusion is definitely going to be great,” he added. Jazz to resonate the Gokarna Forest A genre with the most diverse sonic palette, jazz incorporates various styles from blues to classical, folk, and world music, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Jazz Bazaar at the lush, serene Gokarna Forest Resort. In what could only be described as the marathon of jazz, the event will showcase all of Surya Nepal Jazzmandu 2011 bands and musicians jamming back to back on October 22. One of the highly anticipated events of the festival, the session will start with traditional folk and classical Nepali music at 2:30 pm and lasts until 10 pm for an almost eight-hour jazz party. “Jazzmandu fans, music enthusiasts and jazz lovers can expect some high-energy performance at Gokarna. The forest will come alive with music” shared Sylvie Casiulis, one of the organizers. A Jazzmandu regular, 28-year-old Srijan Man Nakarmi shared that the ambience at the Jazz Bazaar is unmatched. “This year marks my fourth attendance to the park, sitting on the carpets on the grassy lawn, enjoying music! There’s something magical about that place, even the chilly winds add to the charm of the event,” gushed out Nakarmi. Bconnected, Neighbourhood, Nick Aggs of Afro Dizzy Act, The Cuban League, The Window Seat, and Cadenza Collective will be performing at the event. Shuttle bus service is being provided, which will be departing every hour from 1 pm to 4 pm from outside the Hyatt Regency gate at Boudha and returning from Gokarna to Lazimpat between 10 pm and 11 pm.