The annual Surya Nepal Jazzmandu is returning to Nepal’s capital for its 22nd edition between two major festivals Dasain and Tihar between 29 October – 4 November.
Eleven musicians and bands will be performing, including musicians from the United States, Brazil, Switzerland, France, Australia, Singapore, and Nepal.
“Every year is unique but this year’s main attraction is that various musicians from around the world are coming together, especially Tito Puente Jr, son of Tito Puente, the pioneer of Latin jazz,” says Navin Chettri, founder of the festival and member of Cadenza Collective (see below).
Jazz Upstairs Bar’s Chhedup Bomzan and Cadenza’s drummer and singer Chettri started the concerts for the first time in 2002 and it has been held almost every year since.
“The seed of the festival was planted in Australia when we were invited to a Jazz festival over there,” recalls Chettri. “The whole idea was to bring the live jazz scene in Kathmandu, so that people can share the energy of musicians around the world.”
Tito Puente Jr, USA
Tito Puente Jr continues the legacy of his jazz legend father Tito Puente. In just five short years, he has already become an audience favourite and has performed in 300 concerts around the world.
Puente has been featured in several major American television networks, and his 2004 album In My Father’s Shoes was adapted into a BET Jazz television special. His latest album, Got Mambo?, features both traditional rhythms and audacious new approaches that establishes his own distinct jazz voice.
Tito Puente Jr – Timbale and vocals | Zach Fawcett – Trumpet | Pravin Chettri – Alto saxophone | Inap Raj Shretha – Tenor saxophone | Nick Aggs – Baritone saxophone | Manon Mullener – Piano | Samir Chettri – Bass | Navin Chettri – Percussion | Alex Brindell – Percussion | Philippe Ciminato – Percussion
Manon Mullener, Switzerland
Manon Mullener started playing piano at the age of four. At seventeen, her love of jazz, especially Afro-Cuban music, took her to Havana for creative training. Mullener has since toured and played widely in Europe, Latin America, and the West Asia. She is regarded as a rising talent of European jazz and was given the Swiss Jazz Award in 2026.
Her first album, Reflejos (2019) was recorded in collaboration with Peruvian pianist César Correa and Zurich-based percussionist David Stauffacher. Inspired by people she met during her tours, STORIES (2024) was recorded in New York, and it received praise from the European press.
She is an awardee of the Spirale Prize and got a top spot in the 2022 SOFIA (Support of Female Improvising Artists) international competition.
Manon Mullener – Piano | Lucien Mullener – Drums | Rodrigo Aravena – Bass
Cadenza Collective, Nepal
Cadenza Collective is one of the most distinctive and eclectic bands to come out from Kathmandu. It has revitalised Nepal’s improvised music scene, performed internationally, and collaborated with a diverse range of Western and traditional Nepali musicians.
“This festival gives us a chance for us band members to be together, as we all live in different countries,” says Chettri. “We are excited to share the energy and music as in all these 23 years,” says drummer and composer Navin Chettri
The band has released seven original albums, with its latest singles, The Mountain Tickled My Feet and Selo Groove, scheduled for release in 2026.
Navin Chettri – Vocals and drums | Rajat Rai – Guitar | Inap Raj Shrestha – Tenor Sax | Pravin Chhetri – Alto Sax | Samir Chettri – Bass | Zach Fawcett – Trumpet (guest artist)
Kanta dAb dAb, Nepal
Kanta dAb dAb combines sitar, bass, and percussion to fuse ethnic, traditional, Nepali classical, and various Western musical influences, resulting in a vibrant, soulful, cross-genre sound that remains distinctly Nepali and modern. They reinterpret Nepal’s traditional and folk music within a contemporary framework, believing that the country’s musical heritage inspires musicians and scholars alike. Kanta dAb dAb also co-founded Echoes In The Valley, Nepal’s only free folk and indigenous music festival.
The band is also inspired by the diverse experiences of its three members who have been leading figures in Nepal’s music scene for over twenty years. Riju Tuladhar, Sunit Kansakar, and Nikhil Tuladhar, each having mastered their respective instrument, are regarded as veteran musicians.
Nikhil Tuladhar – Drums | Sunit Kansakar – Sitar | Rizu Tuladhar – Bass
Cesar Haas, Brazil
Brazilian guitarist, composer, instructor, and director of the WSU Brazilian Jazz Fest, César Haas received his Doctor of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music and is currently an assistant professor of jazz and classical guitar at Washington State University. He has performed in Brazil and the United States with acclaimed artists including Ken Peplowski, Scotty Barnhart, Bobby Militello among others.
Haas’ works were featured on Nelson Faria’s renowned Um Café Lá em Casa series and he has recorded soundtrack for the documentary Doutor Araguaia. He has collaborated with trombonist Dave Glenn (from legendary Gerry Mulligan big band) presenting original music that blends Brazilian traditions with contemporary jazz.
Cesar Haas – Guitar | Pravin Chettri – Bass | Navin Chettri – Drums
Hot Club of Patan, Nepal
From Patan is a group of musicians who are inclined to music from the 1930s and 40s with jazz stylings of the duo Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt. The band incorporates a multitude of rhythmical styles including swing, bossa and valse, improvising their tunes.
In addition, the band also interprets classic Nepali pop songs from Narayan Gopal and other musical legends from the 60s and 70s and puts in their own spin, gaining them popularity among the Nepali audience.
Chakra – Guitar | Rigzin – Guitar | Sovan – Guitar | Kunzanne – Vocal | Riken – Double bass
Kevin Saura Group, France
Kevin Saura is a French guitarist and composer based in Nice. Before studying at CNRR with Philippe Petit, Fréderic Luzignant, Jean-Paul Ceccareli, and Robert Persi, he taught himself music at the tender age of eight. He later formed Shaky Things as a trio in 2016 and toured multiple countries around the world including France, Italy, Spain, Belgium among others.
The Kevin Saura Group’s philosophy combines jazz lineage with contemporary funk grooves, free jazz freedom, blues-rock hues, and melodic lines from West Coast jazz and bebop. Their music exhibits maturity in the composition of the pieces while maintaining the vibrant intensity of live performance. Each instrument finds its place owing to the core group’s passionate close-knit musicians.
Kevin Saura – Guitar | Roman Dauneau – Bass | Félix Joveniaux – Drums | Philippe Ciminato – Percussion
Nick Aggs Quartet, Australia
Nick Aggs collaborated with Australian fusion band Afro Dizzi Act for his debut performance in Kathmandu in 2002. This year, he is returning for the 8th time with a new quartet. Aggs successfully built his career as a performer, composer and a bandleader with performances at various festivals throughout Asia, Middle East and Australia.
Ant Aggs, his brother and a fellow founding member of Afro Dizzi Act, Mike Hicks, Nick’s long-time musical partner from his years in Shanghai, and Alex Brindell, a Singapore-based drummer and regular collaborator is joining him for this edition. The quartet’s music spans from deep grooves, lyrical improvisation that blends contemporary jazz, funk and global influences.
Nick Aggs – Saxophone | Ant Aggs – Keys | Alex Brindell – Drums | Mike Hicks – Bass
Eastern Classical Musicians, Nepal
Eastern Classical Musicians is made up of musicians like Jonisha Poudel, an accomplished exponent of khayal. Poudel is pursuing her PhD at Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata, studying khayal and thumri under Maestro Debapriya Adhikary. She is an awardee of the Yuva Pratibha Samman in 2019 and has sung for Nepali films as well. She has also performed in different platforms along with a solo concert at the National Cultural Academy.
Santosh Bhakta Shrestha has dedicated himself to the ishraj for two and a half decades. A pupil of Mohan Joshi, Shrestha has mastered the instrument, and performed in many countries and contributed to multiple recordings.
Having collaborated with national and international artists, Roshan Putwar is a musician and researcher of Eastern classical and Nepali traditional music. Putwar represented Nepal at the South Asian Residency 2017 and has performed in more than a thousand stages across multiple countries.
Jonisha Poudel–Vocals | Santosh Bhakt–Ishraj | Roshan Putwar–Bamboo flute
Milan & Milesh Duo, Nepal
Milan Tandukar got his Master’s degree from Pragya Sangeet Samithi in Allahabad with the likes of Mohan Prasad Joshi, Pandit Kumar Lal Shrestha and Pandit Prem Chandra Ojhaya adding to his knowledge of the violin. He has worked as an artist in Radio Nepal and Nepal Television, and is the winner of multiple awards including Kalanidhi Music Award (Gold Metal).
Milesh Tandukar is the founder president of Pundit Satya Narayan Chaudhary Memorial Academy and has a master’s degree in tabala from Prayag Sangeet Samiti in Allahabad. A versatile musician, he can play a wide range of instruments including Dhime, Khin, Nagada, Bango, Dhol among others. He has toured around the globe and worked in albums Musical Journey to Shindhuli Gadhi & Voiceles voice and Trinetra.
Gandharva, Nepal
Historically, the Gandharva troubadours are regarded as the link between heaven and earth, minstrels who mediate between mortals and the gods. They used to earn a living by playing music traveling from village to village. The lyrics carried news of current affairs to the public before radio, television and the internet. They were also known as Walking Newspapers.