And why shouldn’t they be? The Jazz group from Woodstock School of Mussoorie in north India is performing at the Jazz for the Next Generation edition of the Jazzmandu, scheduled at the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory in Jhamsikhel on Sunday, October 31.[break]
“We’re here to learn, play our music, and have fun doing it,” remarked one of them, amidst the bizarrely loud environment in the lobby.
“I guess we know everything, but learning from the professionals will be awesome,” joked another one from the 14-person group, but remained anonymous.
Fiddling about with their cell phones or I pods, most of them laughingly pointed at their teachers, Abe Okie and Megan Hagberg, as their influence, or ‘heroes.’
Megan Hagberg gave more information about the group.
“Culturally, we’re quite versatile,” she stated. “The students are from six different countries – Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Bhutan, Nepal, and India, to be precise – and we get along pretty well.”
“We’re here to showcase the future of Jazz,” added Okie. “Though we aren’t a headline-entry name yet, the students and their future is quite important.”
And how do the students feel about Nepal?
“It’s awesome,” rings out from one of the students, who all start answering, jumbling everything up.
“The food is absolutely sublime,” answers another one, while quite another member remarks upon the ‘good’ people here, as the noise increases.
As we all think about parting ways, the lights suddenly goes out, plunging us into darkness. Load shedding strikes.
“We love even this about Nepal,” shouts one of the students in the low light of cell phones, as all of them slowly disperse.
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