Cadenza Collective to perform at Upstairs on World Music Day

By Mannu Shahi,Cadenza, in music, is a virtuosic solo passage inserted into a body of musical work, typically around the end of a phrase, and similar is the case of the prominent Afro-Nepali Funk-Jazz quintet ‘Cadenza Collective’, a band who has been a flamboyant illustration of textural sonicscape in the context of Nepali music fraternity.

The band comprises Navin Chettri on vocals, drums and percussions; Pravin Chettri on alto saxophone and back vocals; Inap Shrestha on tenor saxophone and back vocals; Rajat Rai on guitars and back vocals; and Samir Chettri on bass and back vocals. 

Initially founded in 1998, the group was one of the very first to experiment with jazz music within the Kathmandu Valley, and to date remains among the few handpicked recorded jazz creators to publish their original content. 

In a scene dominated by folk, rock and pop groups, Cadenza’s sophisticated western-influenced palate distinguished them fairly from the regular mainstream music creating a niche yet loyal audience. 

The band’s discography includes four albums: their debut “Don’t Mind If We Do Again!” released via Bud Vibration record label in 1998 and recorded in Vinapa Studios; a sophomore entry “Groove For Shiva” released in 2005, recorded in Vinapa Studios; a critically acclaimed album “Back To The Roots” published in 2014, recorded in Katjazz Studios; and their latest “Himalayan Songlines” released in 2019, also recorded in Katjazz Studios. 

The nine-track album “Back To The Roots” was also nominated for five categories in the Hits FM Music Awards 2014, and it was able to bag the Best Pop/Rock Album of the Year and the Best Pop/Rock Composition for their first single from the collection ‘Namaste’. 

Also, in 2021, the fourth single ‘Aisha’s Dream’ from the same album was featured as a soundtrack for the renowned Netflix-made documentary ‘14 Peaks’.

The group has bestowed their electrifying performances in many international music festivals and revered venues including the Palmer Street Jazz Festival in Australia, ELB Jazz Festival in Germany, RSJ Fest in India, La Baiser Sale and La Timbale in Paris, Klunker Kranich in Berlin and in jazz clubs of Copenhagen and Brussels. 

While back home, the band members are the primary organisers and founders of the longest-running and most celebrated annual jazz festival of the Himalayas: Jazzmandu. In addition to this, Navin Chettri, the band leader, is also the founder of Drumjatra, a festival dedicated to the preservation and awareness of the percussive realm in music. 

Lyrically, the band’s topics range from day-to-day normal activities to romantically infused songs, patriotism, satirical humour and spirituality as well as descriptions of regular fun memories and remembrance of old habits and visited places. 

But all in all, in my view, the band mesmerises any average Nepali music listener instantly not only with their magnetic live performances and charismatic personalities but also by these outgoing, fun, heavily-ornamented and upbeat Nepali songs sung and arranged in a manner unlike any other, thus creating a fresh repertoire of their own. 

And this coming Wednesday, June 21, Cadenza Collective is all geared up to play at Jazz Upstairs in Lazimpat, Kathmandu, on the occasion of World Music Day 2023. The show begins at 8 pm and the entry fee is Rs. 500 (for pre-sales) and Rs. 700 per head (door sales). So be there!