What jazzy performances!

Rocking Festival

Such decorations and lights are rarely seen at live shows in the City as most of them are performed at indoor auditoriums and not parks! But, the 3rd Delhi International Jazz Festival, which was held at Nehru park, from March 15-18, made sure that every nook and corner of the venue was decorated and beautifully lit.

From welcoming the guests with rainbow shaped lights all throughout the passage towards the stage to ‘designer’ trees and colourful arch lights falling on them, the Festival created a perfect ambience to enjoy jazz music.

The festival, now in its third year, attracted a huge crowd, in fact, more than expected. Also adding to the flavour were the food stalls serving snacks.

The festival, organised by ICCR featured 14 bands from 11 countries, including
India, and attempted to bring together jazz artistes from different countries on one platform. The first day saw the performances from New Bone Quintet band from Poland, Sylivie Bourban from Switzerland and Oscar Acevedo Quartet from Colombia.

The second day was kickstarted by an Indian band UNK: The Radha Thomas Ensemble. After the performance, Radha Thomas, said, “It was a pleasure performing here in Delhi. The crowd has been really supportive and I hope everybody enjoyed. I hope to come back again next year.”

After her soothing performance, Ararat from Israel and Imany from France took over the stage. But the highlight of the night was the performance by Oleg Butman Jazz Trio from Russia. The organisers slotted the band at the last. Despite that people did not mind to wait and watch it even standing throughout the event as all chairs were occupied.

The festival has surely put the City on the world jazz map and made it one of the favourite destinations for international artists. Other highlight of the evenings was the huge screens which allowed the music lovers to enjoy the festival all the more. The live streaming was also an effort to make the event available to as large an audience as possible.

After the event, Suresh K Goel, Director-General, ICCR, said, “Every major city such as Montreal, London, Stockholm and Edinburgh has a world class jazz festival that is not just named after the city but defines its cultural ethos too. By hosting  a festival like this and of such grandeur, the City too has been included in this list.”