The seventh edition of the 3-day Delhi International Jazz Festival recently concluded at Delhi’s Nehru Park. Organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), the festival provided a platform for Jazz bands from across the world to perform. The 3-day long festival saw performances from bands from Israel, Mexico, France, Spain, South Africa, Korea and Taiwan. Three Indian bands from Kolkata, Bangalore and Nagaland also took the stage.
The Jazz festival is an annual event that is held at Nehru Park, New Delhi. The event is free for audiences and this year more than 15,000 Jazz lovers attended the event. Bands from South Africa (Thokozane Afro JazzMuzo), Spain (Alfonso Aroca Flamenco), Israel (Yogev Shetrit Trio) and Korea (Si Zhu Kong) won the hearts of the people and the audiences were seen enjoying these performances thoroughly. Tovalin-Mercado, from Mexico, was appreciated for their unique mix of music on the piano and violin.
All three Indian bands also received a great response from the audience and crowds were seen swinging to the beats. “It is our first performance at the Jazz Festival and we are very excited. As we perform Jazz in its original form, we believe that festivals like these are great platforms to learn a variety of new things from the other bands that perform,” said Theja Meru, lead singer of the band Rattle and Hum from Nagaland.
This is the first time that the Jazz Festival is being taken to different parts of the country. “After seeing the brilliant response that we get in Delhi, we at ICCR believe that it’s important that Jazz lovers outside of Delhi also get to witness the extravaganza. In a first of its kind initiative, ICCR is also holding the festival in Goa, Guwahati, Aizwal, Shillong, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Varanasi and Jaipur,” said Smt. Riva Ganguly Das, Director General, ICCR.